Fishy Island
by Wishing-for-a-Zoro-plushie
Summary: OPU ZoLu SanNam Being his usual, energetic, and adventurous self, Luffy managed to get himself and Sanji stuck on a rather... troublesome island. They have to get off somehow, but that could be rather hard, as Zoro's not exactly up to par...
1. The Loop

**One Piece Universe. **

**ZoLu SanNam**

**Rated T for swearing (for now) Rating may go up in the future. **

**This won't be an excessively long fic, but it should be at least nearly ten chapters. Probably long chapters too. Attempted to make it as IC as I possibly could. For those who find the name of this fic funny... BLAH, to you too. XP Another thing. Forgive any typos. I checked this through a fair few times, but I was pretty tired and stressed out when I did, so yeah. Thanks. **

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_**Fishy Island**_

_**by Plushie**_

_**Chapter 1 : The Loop**_

Nothing could have made this day less fantastic. The air was clear, the morning bright. Crispy white clouds scudded over the sky. The Straw Hat Pirates were sailing quite serenly towards their next destination, of which Nami was yet to tell them about. Grinning widely as he watched his chef, Sanji, tie the last of a long rope onto the railing in front of him, Luffy chuckled.

"We kicked their asses…" he grinned, rocking back and forth as he sat cross legged on a barrel nearby. Rolling his eyes slightly, Sanji smirked as he tied the knot nice and tight.

"I know, Luffy." he muttered. Man, the kid could get annoying sometimes! ... No, take that back. ALL the time!

"We really beat em'!" Luffy chirped, his eyes closed from the way he was grinning so widely. Snorting this time, Sanji pulled away from the rope and then stepped back to inspect his work. Not a bad knot right there...

"Yes, we did." he agreed almost absently as he reached forward and secured the tail of the knot up and over the railing. Leaning out over the rail and looking down at the small row boat that was attached to the end of the rope, Luffy 'hmmed' in thought.

"Do you think they'll notice it's missing?" he asked, resting his chin on the rail and watching the little wooden boat bob along in the wake of their ship. Raising an eyebrow, Sanji looked to the pirate ship which was sinking on the horizon and shrugged.

"Probably." he replied before turning and sticking his hands in his pockets, walking back towards the stairs that led down onto the deck.

"Not likely…" Zoro commented from where he was leaning against the rail behind Luffy's barrel, arms crossed behind his head and eyes closed.

"Oh? Why not?" Luffy asked, twisting so his neck was bent backwards and he was looking at his first mate upside down. Receding steps announced that Sanji had exited the conversation via the stairs and was on his way to the kitchen. Shrugging slowly, Zoro yawned and cracked his eyes open.

"Because you destroyed half of their ship." he stated, raising an arm lazily and pointing to the horizon. Luffy blinked idly for a while, staying silent as he watched the last of the pirate ship's mast and sail disappear beneath the water's surface. Practically seeing the question mark over his captain's head, Zoro's eye twitched slightly.

"You SUNK their SHIP! Means they're probably all dead, idiot!" he growled, crossing his legs at the ankle and huffing in annoyance.

"Ooooh." Luffy noised, finally understanding, "… So they won't notice?"

"…baka." was all Zoro had to say about that. Settling back on his barrel again, the captain watched his green haired crew member for a while, before turning back to the horizon again. His eyes narrowed gently, and his face was serious as he looked out to sea. Silently, he was wondering if those pirates were dead. It was their own fault after all. They fired on Merry and destroyed one of the railings! He couldn't let them continue to destroy his ship. Not to mention the stupid bastards had hurt Usopp. He'd been standing near to the railing when the cannon ball had hit. The wood had splintered and a large piece had smacked into the long nose's face, breaking his nose and smashing his forehead and cheeks. He hadn't escaped a large amount of splinters either…

The pirates had then attempted to board Merry, only to discover a black boot, or a sharp sword at their throats. A rubber fist wasn't far behind and soon the pirates found themselves smashing back into their own ship. A few of them smacked into the wooden hull and then straight through it from the sheer force of the punch. With many crunching noises, the ship's hull began to collapse in on itself, while Merry continued sailing onwards at it's usual speed. It took a while for the other pirate ship to sink, but sink it did. As they'd been leaving the wreck site, Nami had spotted the little boat and had stolen the rope from the other pirate's as they'd sailed past. She explained that a little boat would be good if ever they couldn't get somewhere on the water because Merry was too large.

Turning, Luffy promptly forgot his thoughts as Sanji announced lunch was ready. He bolted so fast that the barrel rocked and fell over, bouncing off of Zoro's feet and then rolling to the side. Grunting as he was awoken, Zoro cracked an eye open and looked around a little. If Luffy was gone… and the barrel had fallen over, that meant the captain had left in a hurry. If the captain had left in a hurry, that meant food was in the area. If food was in the area, it meant that Sanji must have been finished lunch. Hm, he was hungry too. Right on time. Getting to his feet, the swordsman made his lazy way down to the kitchen to eat. When he got there, it was to find Luffy had already eaten all of his food anyway. Slanting his eyes in annoyance, he sat down at the table and frowned pointedly at his now mildly sweating captain. 

"I seem to be lacking in the food department… Know anything about it, captain?" he asked, voice low. The dark haired man beside him glanced to the side and then grinned widely, shaking his head.

"Nope!" he replied, perfectly confident. A tic twitched in Zoro's forehead before he stilled it and then smirked slightly as he turned to Usopp.

"I could hear you telling a story while I was walking down, Usopp." He looked up to Sanji, who blinked a little, visible eye narrowing, "Heard love cook twittering over Nami, who was reading off the islands we're heading towards and are going to try and avoid. Robin was making coffee, and Luffy…" 

"We wer-" Usopp began but yelped as a booted foot came down on his own. Whimpering, he clutched at it and bowed out of the conversation with a few dropped tears of pain. It was a well known fact, that when Luffy ate, he didn't listen to a thing anyone else said anyway. So right now, the captain was sweating by the bucket-load, his wide grin starting to quiver at the edges. The room was silent, everyone wondering what would happen. Finally Zoro sighed heavily.

"Stop sweating, Luffy. I know it was you." he grunted, frowning. Luffy blinked.

"No."

"Yes." 

"Never." 

"Always." 

"Noooo!"

"Oh shut up." Zoro muttered as he shook his head, pulling out of the argument with a small smirk, though his face was generally annoyed.

"You won't be getting dinner tonight, Luffy." Sanji commented as he dropped into his seat and lit a new cigarette, frowning a little when he noticed he was lacking in them. He would have to remember to get a new packet before they got to the islands.

"Awwwwww! Why!?" Luffy whined, giving the chef a pathetic look.

"Because you ate Zoro's dinner, you idiot. We can't afford to waste food like that." the blonde replied easily and calmly, turning a narrowed blue eye on his captain.

"…Hmm." Luffy pouted, letting his head flop onto the table before shifting and giving his first mate an absolutely pathetic looking, puppy dog pout. 

"Don't look at me, it was _my _food you ate." the swordsman growled, glaring back at the boy. Apparently, the realisation that he had just stolen from possibly the only person who would have snuck food out to him, hit home. Poor Luffy. He sighed and whined pitifully, and lowly for a long, _long _time until Nami finally got sick of it and glared angrily at him.

"If you shut up, Luffy, I'll tell you about the islands we're going to be sailing past." the cartographer frowned slightly, attempting to use blackmail to shut the captain up. Dark eyes lit up instantly, a wide grin spreading across the rubber man's face.

"Ok!" he nodded, waiting as Nami sighed and regained control of her temper. Everyone in the room peered over as she nudged the map into the middle of the table and laid a delicate finger on what must have been their position.

"We're here at the moment, sailing towards a set of four islands known as the Crystal Isles." Nami explained, sliding her finger across to the first, almost perfectly circular shaped mark that indicated the first of the Islands. Usopp leaned over the map and blinked at it.

"Why the Crystal Isles? Are the islands made of crystal or something?" he asked, a small spark of interest lighting up his eyes.

"So COOL!!" Both Chopper and Luffy squealed, pumping their fists with stars in their eyes.

"Idiots…" Zoro muttered, "They're known as the Crystal Isles because they hold the rarest and most beautiful crystals in the Grand Line. Hence why they're guarded by those protectors."

"That's right." Nami nodded approvingly, "How did you know?" 

"Heard pirates talking about it while I was hunting them." the swordsman shrugged in return, hands now linked behind his head as he leaned back in his seat.

"Cool!" Luffy grinned, continuing to grin and pump his fists, "Are we gonna go and check it out?"

"No." Sanji stated simply, frowning slightly, "As moron over there said, there's protectors. They'd slice this ship, and us, into a million pieces before we even set foot on the place."

"Right." Nami smiled, happy that she didn't have to explain _everything _like usual, "So we'll be taking the route between two of the islands. We can look, but no touching. As much as the crystals are tempting to go find…" Here she paused to sigh dreamily, obviously imagining how nice those crystals would look on jewellery, OR, imagining how much she could sell those things for.

"Aww…" the captain sighed, pouting slightly. Nami was still in 'la-la land' eyes glazed and an almost Sanji-ish smile on her face. The blonde blinked before grinning widely.

"Nami-swan is so beautiful when she's imagining crystals!" he complimented, nodding a few times. Robin chuckled slightly.

"Navigator-san is obviously in dream-land. I'll explain the rest until she awakes again. The first island we'll see is Topaz. It'll be the largest island. The second island adjacent to it, will be Acicular. Named after it's thin, and needle-like appearance. The third island diagonally across from Topaz, Moonstone. It's the smallest island, and most likely the most dangerous. It has the largest population of poisonous animals and snakes. The last island, and the most fascinating, is Dendritic. Named so because of it's odd, and branch-like cliff formations." Robin smiled, obviously in her element as she explained the origins of names and such.

Luffy was lost from the word go, and was now rocking back and forth idly, yawning with a finger up his nose. Zoro had fallen asleep a LONG time ago, and Sanji had gone to do the dishes. Usopp was confused as hell, but was pretending he understood everything, while Chopper was listening in awe. Nami was still in la-la land, her eyes still rather glazed. It took Usopp yelling about how he had already vanquished the protectors and was the hero of the Crystal Isles to knock her out of her little fantasy world.

"You couldn't defeat them if you tried, Usopp." she commented, leaning an elbow on the table and smirking at the long nose. A red blush crept across the boy's features, and he frowned. 

"Says you!" he replied, putting his hands on his hips and looking all haughty. Nami just chuckled, finding it rather funny how the long nose took offence at the slightest things. Robin smiled, not really minding that no one had paid much attention to her. She knew that at some point, someone would want to know something about the island, and then she would repay the favour of not listening.

"Uwaa!" Chopper gasped suddenly in awe, his eyes sparkling and nose twitching as he gazed adoringly up at the long nose, "Did you really, Usopp!?" A sly smirk slid over the tanned boy's features before he nodded fervently.

"Of course! Did you expect anything less of the great Usopp-Sama?" Usopp cried, striking one of his classic 'I'm the best hero you'll ever find!' poses. Chopper squealed slightly and bounced up and down in his seat.

"Can I hear the story? Please, Usopp?" he chirped, eyes alight with curiosity and adoration. Usopp chuckled to himself before nodding and standing, leading the little reindeer out onto the deck where they wouldn't be disturbed. Zoro yawned widely and stretched before standing and exiting as well, heading off to find a less noisy place to sleep. The captain spotted his swordsman moving and grinned, leaping from his chair and following the older teen out onto the deck where he could harass him with questions about the islands. Sanji turned to see everyone leaving and sighed a little. The peace and quiet of the kitchen would be good for a while. He paused as he heard a soft shuffle and looked back to see Nami still sitting at the table. She was shuffling over her map and frowning a little as she did so.

"Nami-san?" he asked, blinking a little as he dried his hands on a towel and moved over to her. The navigator sighed a little.

"… It doesn't make sense, Sanji… It just doesn't make sense." she muttered, putting a hand to her head and shaking it as she traced her finger continuously over a certain spot on the map.

"What doesn't, Nami-san?" the chef asked, dropping into a chair across from her and looking politely confused. Nami sighed a little.

"Here." and she pointed to the first island that they were heading towards, "That's the first island, right? Well… the currents flow through between the first and fourth islands. _But_, they double back on themselves. Here, look." She nudged the map towards Sanji, who pulled it over to him and peered at it with lightly furrowed eyebrows. Nami was right… it didn't make sense at all. The small arrows that showed the direction of the currents running alongside the first island, twisted around the fourth island and swept back towards itself.

"So… it looks like a loop." the chef said, tracing the line of the current with a finger.

"Yes, that's _exactly _what it is." Nami nodded, looking up at him with concerned eyes, "And you know what that means?" Sanji looked up, still politely confused. He shook his head slightly, waiting for the navigator to elaborate.

"It means, Sanji… That if Merry gets _into _that current, we'll _never _get out again." she said firmly. Sanji blinked a little before frowning.

"So… we have to stay away from it then, ne Nami-san?" he nodded, "We can do that, easily!" Nami sighed softly and shook her head, pulling the map back to the middle of the table and pointing at the entrance to the islands.

"See the mouth of the currents here? All this water…" and she waved a hand over the large arc of blue that stretched from the outside corners of both the first and second islands, and encompassed a large body of water that stretched back to almost halfway between the last island they'd visited, to the Crystal Isles.

"We're already trapped within it then…" Sanji sighed softly, "Why didn't you say anything sooner, Nami-san? We could have at least tried to do something."

"… There's nothing we can do. I've been going over it again and again until I almost drive myself crazy! But there's no escape… And I didn't say anything earlier because I didn't want those idiots out there freaking out of their brains." the cartographer replied, running a hand through her ginger hair and staring at the map resolutely, trying to figure out what they could at least _attempt _to do. Sanji smiled a little, admiring the fact that Nami didn't want to worry everyone.

"Nami-san is so beautiful when she cares…" he muttered, his voice serious as he got to his feet and moved back to the dishes again, "It's okay, Nami-san. We'll figure a way out of this." Nami let out a soft and almost frustrated growl.

"Sanji-"

"Nami-san…" Sanji cut her off, turning to her with a firm expression, "We've never let the impossible get in our way before. Why should it be any different now?" Nami blinked back at him silently for a few seconds before heaving a deep sigh and nodding as she turned her eyes away.

"I hope you're right, Sanji-kun." she said, getting to her feet and smiling at him a little sadly, "For the crew's sake." Rolling up her map, she walked out and left the blonde in silence. Sanji watched her go, and then shook his head a little as he turned back to the dishes. As much as he wanted to believe that they were going to get out of this… he had about as little faith as Nami did. Sure, Luffy had gotten them out of scrapes that seemed worse than this but… Frowning a little as he began doubting himself _and _the captain who had defeated every foe he'd come across, Sanji continued washing the dishes and scrubbing at them angrily. He was a fool to think they wouldn't get out of this. An idiotic fool…

---

"How old are the islands?" Luffy asked, sitting in his special seat and gazing out at the slowly approaching gap between the two large islands. Zoro was leaning on the rail below him, watching the islands as well. He'd attempted to sleep, but Luffy had bugged him until he'd had no choice but to comply to the captain's wishes.

"No idea." the swordsman replied, the breeze rippling through his hair. Luffy grinned a little at the feeling of the cool breeze brushing through his ebony locks.

"Do they have animals on them? Dinosaurs? Snakes?" the captain inquired, grinning widely. He wanted to explore these islands! They looked like they would be such fun! Zoro frowned slightly.

"How should I know? I've only heard about them, haven't been _on _them." he grouched, yawning widely. Luffy didn't seem to hear him. His eyes were glittering, and he was leaning further and further forward, mouth open in a wide grin. He so BADLY (as with anything that was forbidden to him) wanted to go on that island!

"Can-"

"No." the swordsman said instantly, cutting the boy off before he had the chance to even ask his question.

"But-" 

"Tough."

"… Zoro's so mean today." Luffy pouted, looking back out to the island and puffing his cheeks defiantly. Zoro smirked slightly as he looked up at his captain.

"Zoro's mean everyday. Luffy just can't be stuffed noticing." and with a yawn, the swordsman headed off to find a place to nap. Watching as his friend settled down next to a crate a little way away, Luffy sighed a little. There went his only chance at getting on that island. If Zoro didn't vouch for him, then he was lost. Maybe Usopp, or Chopper, or even Sanji would wanna go and have a look with him? After all, if he had backup, then how could Nami refuse him? Grinning at this absolutely, infallible idea, Luffy jumped down from Merry's figure head and bolted across the deck, searching for the long nose first.

By the time he managed to locate the sniper and reindeer, they were just starting to pass between the first and second islands. The gap between them and the islands was very wide, and therefore not much of the islands could be seen through the heavy green undergrowth. Soft, white sandy beaches could be seen on their shores and all in all, looking very peaceful and calm. His two fellow pirates were sitting on the back deck, cards in their hands and a pile of discarded ones between them.

"Usopp, Chopper! I had a great idea!" Luffy chirped as he dropped down beside them, leaning in between the two and grinning so widely it was a wonder his face didn't split in two. But then again, he _was _a rubber-man. Looking up with narrowed eyes, and bandaged nose, Usopp frowned slightly.

"We're not going to the island, Luffy." he said firmly, laying down a card that made Chopper squeal and pick up. The cute little reindeer didn't actually know how the game was played, he just liked having heaps of cards in his hooves.

"Chopper! You're not supposed to take the cards unless I give them to you!" the long nose sighed, shaking his head and causing curly hair to go everywhere. Chopper's nose twitched as he gazed at the older crew member, wondering why this was so. Meanwhile, Luffy was pouting with puffed cheeks and dark eyes. Sanji it was then! So off he bounded, leaving Chopper blinking and Usopp trying to re-explain the rules. As Luffy bounded in the door of the kitchen, he blinked when Sanji wasn't there. Frowning slightly and wondering just where the blonde could be, the captain wandered back out again and looked around. AH, there he was! Talking to Nami as he, the navigator and Robin leant on the railings and watched the islands pass by.

"Sanji!" Luffy cried, practically bolting to the chef's side. This was a long shot, that was for sure. Sanji wasn't one to go off exploring. He preferred to be within calling distance of Nami and Robin, so if they were in danger, or wanted something, he would be there for them.

"What do you want, idiot?" Sanji asked, annoyed that Luffy had interrupted his quiet conversation with the two ladies of the ship.

"Wanna go exploring with me?" the captain asked, looking hopeful. Wide eyes were met with narrowed, dark ones. In the simplest sentence Sanji could come up with, he told Luffy exactly what he thought of that question.

"No." With that, he turned back to Nami again. Luffy sighed and deflated visibly.

"Are you sure?" he tried again. Sighing a little irritably this time, Sanji turned back to the captain with a frown.

"Have you asked Marimo?"

"Yeah, he said no." 

"Usopp and Chopper?"

"They said no, too."

"Then I guess you've got a run of three, because I don't want to go either. Go annoy the idiot Marimo until he goes with you." Sanji growled slightly, blowing out a stream of smoke and frowning down at his captain. Heaving a very heavy and deep sigh, Luffy shook his head. He wasn't going to be deterred! He was going to that island, and that was final!

"Fine. Guess I'm going alone." he said as he stalked off towards the front of the ship which was now pointed directly at the fourth island as the current began taking it around the bend that led between the first and fourth islands. Sanji blinked for a second before that processed.

"Oi! You are not! Get back here!" the older teen growled, pointing at the deck in front of his feet. Luffy shook his head like a stubborn little kid and trotted to Merry's head, climbing up and onto it.

"I wanna explore!"

"Nami-san said you can't!"

"But I wanna! It's been ages since we sailed from the last island!" the captain returned. Sanji growled and ran up behind him, grabbing onto a foot. NEVER, had he thought Luffy would be so disregarding to what Nami said. Not in this case anyway.

"It's been a week! We've been on the ocean longer than that, idiot!" his protests fell on deaf ears though, as Luffy grinned and once they were close enough… rocketed himself onto the island. Sanji didn't let go quick enough, and he found himself being flung into the air and dragged along with the wayward captain. This… was going to be a _fun _day. Fun, here having the meaning of absolutely horrible, terrible, and having to put up with a captain who would be wanting food, adventure, and then more food.

Yay, sounded wonderful… NOT!

---

Looking up as he heard a familiar 'BAKA!' and then 'YAHOO!', Zoro blinked as he saw Luffy and Sanji heading straight for the fourth island, the one they were passing now. Raising an eyebrow, he got up and moved to the railing, crossing his arms on it and watching as the two disappeared in the trees. Vaguely, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction because for once… that _wasn't _him. He was the one always being either smacked into, thrown around, or rocketed to parts unknown. Nami wandered over to where Zoro was standing and frowned slightly.

"Where's Sanji?" she asked. Zoro smirked slightly, before raising a casual arm and pointing at the island.

"Over there…" and he sniggered derisively, "Both he and Luffy went on a little trip." Nami blinked before whacking him in the back of the head, sending his face into the railing below it and making him reel back grunting in pain and grabbing at his now bleeding nose.

"What the HELL!?" he yelled.

"Why did you let them go!?" the navigator shrieked, waving her arms at him.

"I DIDN'T! I just saw them flying off!!" Zoro roared back, groaning slightly as his nose and upper lip throbbed, "Stupid bitch…"

"What was that!?" Nami growled and Zoro grimaced slightly, hurrying away from the incensed navigator. He wasn't going to deal with the witch when she was about ready to breathe fire. Still… If what he had heard about these islands, then it was no easy task to get off of the damn thing… Fuck. That in turn meant… he would be rescuing Sanji. Oh dear lord, why couldn't Luffy have gone there by himself? Like he _usually _did. At least when he got there he wouldn't be insulted for not showing up sooner, for getting lost and for more than likely getting into some sort of trouble. Wasn't his fault tigers and animals liked to attack him all the time, damn it! … Sighing, Zoro moved back to where he could hear Chopper and Usopp yapping on the back deck. He climbed up, and raised an eyebrow at the two.

"Usopp, come. Now." the swordsman ordered, moving back down to the deck again.

"I'm not a dog!" Usopp frowned, but followed none the less. Chopper giggled to himself, silently commenting on the fact that Usopp did in fact, look mildly like a dog… With his long nose, and big wide eyes. Giggling, but trying to hide it, the little reindeer trotted after them. Paying no attention to his sniggering comrade, Usopp blinked when he saw no Sanji and no Luffy on deck.

"What's going on?" he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly, "Did Luffy rocket them both onto the island?" 

"How did you guess?" Zoro replied sarcastically as he grabbed up one of the oars and then moved back to the back deck again. Nami, Robin, Chopper and Usopp all followed curiously.

"Zoro, you can't do that…" Nami warned, realising that if Zoro went out in the little boat now… then he would be stuck in the current in the damn thing. Now _that _would be a pain in the ass.

"Why the hell not?" Zoro muttered as he placed one foot on the railing.

"Because, I said so." the navigator frowned. The swordsman arched an eyebrow, then snorted before leaping off the railing and into the little boat below. 

"Come on, Usopp." he called back up. Nami growled and moved to the railing herself, clenching it with angry hands and glaring down at the ignorant first mate.

"Damn it, Zoro. There's a current. Merry's already stuck in it, and you will be too if you keep this up!" Silence followed this statement, as Robin bowed her head slightly. She'd studied the map, and therefore knew about this current. Not to mention her broad expanse of general knowledge had covered this particular point when she had learnt about these rare islands. Zoro looked up at the cartographer, frowning a little.

"So what? The Island's are impossible to get off, supposedly, aren't they?"

"They're also impossible to get on to, swordsman-san…" Robin reminded him. Zoro scowled angrily. Why were they so against him going to help Luffy for hell's sake?

"Usopp, get down here now…" he growled.

"But-" 

"I said _now_."

"…Fine." Usopp sighed, climbing onto the rail, and then awkwardly shimming down the rope and into the boat, freaking out because it rocked violently when he fell into it. Rolling his eyes, Zoro looked back up at the others, before pulling out a sword and easily swiping through the rope. Almost instantly, the little ship began to pick up speed, levelling with Merry as the current dragged them along. 

"Zoro!!" Nami yelled, angry and frightened that they would both be killed if they didn't get out of the current.

"Leave them, Navigator-san… They're gone…" Robin said softly, resting a hand on the younger woman's shoulder and watching as Usopp rowed frantically to try and get out of the current.

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**Okay, first chapter. It's a little short perhaps, but as they go on, the chapters should get a little longer hopefully. What did you think? It's a little different than my usual thing, isn't it? maybe because I haven't written something by myself in a little while. XD Anyway. Tell me what you thought! What you think may happen, things like that, ne:D **


	2. Freaking Frustrating Fish

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I will get back to you soon. I promise. I've just had a heap of work dumped on me at the moment, so I have to get through it all before I continue with anything else. **

Erm, once again, forgive any errors, mistakes, or just plain crappiness. 

**This will be a ZoLu, and SanNam, there won't be many hints for a while yet. I'm gonna try and make this story a little longer than what I originally had in mind. Hope you like it though. :) **

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_**Chapter 2 : Freaking Frustrating Fish**_

Luffy… was dead. Or, at least that's what Sanji wished he was. The little bastard was running around and exploring, and where was he? Stuck in a fucked up tree!! Struggling with all his might, the blonde groaned and slumped as he realised… yeah, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Two branches were wrapped around his middle, holding him securely, but making it impossible for him to kick his way out of this mess. His legs were floppy over the branches, him seeing no point in wasting energy when surely the branch would break from too much weight.

… right?

Glancing at the thick, and frustratingly dependable looking branch, Sanji sighed heavily.

"Oiii! Sanji! What are you doing up there?" Luffy called from the ground, arms full of pointless and random objects that he had seen that looked cool. There was a rock that had a white cross over it like Chopper's cross. There was a leaf that was the same colour as Zoro's hair, not to mention a flower that smelled like Nami did. Ooh, and a pretty old looking rock-wood-rotten-weird… _thing_ that he was sure Robin would identify! Maybe… Basically, he'd found something for everyone. Sanji glared down at the boy below him.

"Just hanging around - what the hell do you think!? Get me down!" the blonde yelled, sounding almost Zoro-ish as he did so. Blinking rapidly, Luffy looked from Sanji, to the branch, to Sanji again before shrugging and shooting an arm up to the blonde. Grabbing the front of his jacket, the captain ignored the way Sanji's eyes widened… and then jerked him forcefully through the tree's branches and out the bottom, dropping him to the ground. Grinning like a fool, Luffy leered down at the blonde as Sanji tried to untwist himself and get to his feet again. He was gonna kill him… Yep, he was going to commit the worst of all pirate crimes. Mutiny. And damn he was gonna enjoy it!

"There! Now let's go!" Luffy announced, turning and heading off in a random direction, completely oblivious to the dagger like glare he was receiving from his pissed off chef. Muttering curses, and pulling leaves and twigs from his hair, Sanji followed. He hated this place already… Of course, he hated any place that didn't have Nami in it. Ahh… where was she now? Was she okay? Was she mad? She was so charming when she was mad… but scary too. But still charming! Calming a little with thoughts of Nami, Sanji sighed.

"So, _captain_. You got us on this island, how are we getting off?" he asked, looking around idly as they walked. Luffy paused and blinked. Well that was obvious…

"Same way we got here of course." he snorted, laughing a little, "Sanji's so stupid." The blonde frowned again at that. If he had of been a cat, he would have hissed.

"Right… Stupid, that means a great deal coming from someone… oh, forget it." the blonde snapped, stalking behind the dark haired boy. Looked like today was going to be one of _those _days.

---

Frowning and thinking of the many ways she could make Zoro pay (literally) when he got back, Nami glared as the little dingy bearing two of her nakama, finally made it into the calm zone between the island and the fast moving current.

"Shouldn't we drop anchor?" Chopper asked, clutching the railing and peeking over it with adorably wide eyes.

"The current's too strong…" Nami replied, shaking her head a little and inwardly sighing in relief as Zoro and Usopp began heading safely towards the Island. HOW, did they manage that? … Possibly because Zoro scared the living daylights out of his long nosed comrade, and made him row like a professional. That would explain it.

"Navigator-san, perhaps we should give it a try? If we don't try something, we'll end up drifting out of range and sight. If they need our help…" Robin said quietly, glancing at Zoro and Usopp every now and again. Looking up at the sky, Nami sighed and then nodded.

"Alright. Chopper, if you would? Robin?" she instructed. If this didn't work… then it would break the line and they would lose their anchor. Worse yet, quite possibly the rope wouldn't break, and it would pull Merry around and over, ripping the side of her hull as it dragged. Biting her lip, she clenched her fingers on the railing… and waited. Seconds stretched into minutes which seemed like _days _as she waited for the inevitable splash. It didn't take long to hit the water, but to Nami, it felt like an eternity. What if she had made the wrong decision in letting them do that? She was in charge (not that she wasn't always anyway) of the crew now that Zoro and Usopp had left the ship as well. Once again, those seconds stretched to their breaking point, nearly driving Nami mad with anxiety.

The ship jerked rather violently, and she gave a short squeak, having expected it, but not been prepared for it. Chopper squealed and yelled as he toppled from his position on the railing, and headed for the water. He grabbed at the edge of the deck, but with only hooves, he couldn't quite grasp the narrow edge. Hands sprouted quickly from the wood, catching the little reindeer and passing him up into the archaeologist's waiting arms. The ship gave another jerk as it reached the end of it's turn and the current tugged at it, trying to pull it away from the anchor which was now buried deeply in the sea floor. This time, Nami was prepared, grabbing the railing and holding herself upright, dreading the sound of splintering wood and the feeling of inertia as the ship turned over… but no such feelings, _or _sounds came.

Robin gave a soft gasp as the ship jerked, falling backwards and barely managing to grab the railing to stop herself, as Chopper clutched to her to try and stop himself falling too. The ship stayed still after that, floating and continuing to bob in the current but no longer actually moving. Slowly, Merry turned back to her vertical position on the sea, easing the bobbing down to a minimum. 

"Are we dead?" Chopper mumbled against Robin's stomach, clutching to her shirt. The black haired woman chuckled softly as she tugged the reindeer lightly off of her.

"No, doctor-san." she replied as she straightened herself and headed down to where Nami was wiping a hand over her forehead in relief. Chopper trotted over to them with wide eyes, before grinning widely.

"We did it!" he cheered, bouncing a bit. Nami smiled a little and nodded, patting the top of his pink, fluffy hat. She glanced at Robin, whose eyes were sparkling slightly in amusement that didn't show on her face.

Usopp grunted slightly as he continued rowing the small boat towards the shore of the island.

"Zoroooo…" he whined, dropping the oars and giving the swordsman a pathetic look, "Why are we trying this AGAIN?"

"Because… Luffy and Sanji are still on that damned island…" Zoro replied simply, head tilted slightly to the side as he looked past Usopp at the island they were approaching. Merry sat not far behind them, her anchor having been dropped in order to keep her from floating away. Once again, the long nose let out a pathetic sounding whine.

"Then why am _I _doing all the rowing?" he complained, jutting his bottom lip up in an annoyed pout. Zoro turned steely eyes on his companion, frowned heavily… and shrugged noncommittally.

"I don't know. _You _grabbed the oars." he replied, once again turning back to the island. Usopp nearly had a fit. His mouth dropped open, and his eyes nearly rolled back in his head.

"You mean…! You let me…? You asshole!" the sniper shouted before Zoro frowned and held up a hand, telling the younger man to be quiet. Standing up, he placed a hand on the hilt of one of his swords and flicked it out with a thumb. A small thoughtful frown made it's way onto his face as he walked towards Usopp (who started jabbering about never in his life having insulted the older teen).

"Shut _up_, Usopp…" Zoro snapped slightly, and Usopp did indeed clamp his lips tightly closed. There was a soft rumble, and a shifting of the waves beneath him and both teens frowned deeply. 

"Damn…" both swore before the water parted between them and the island. Out of it's depths, and rumbling like the worst stomach ache… came a large monster. Both of it's bulbous eyes were set on one side of it's head, and it was barely the width of the little boat that Usopp and Zoro were floating in. A large smattering of spikes ran over it's sides, along it's back, and across the fins on either side. Zoro glared. Usopp screamed… and grabbed the oars. The boat spun around and began heading at high speed back for Merry again, regardless of the current. He reached the ship again before the current could grab a hold anyway.

"Stupid FISH!" Zoro yelled, glaring at the creature before him as the little boat flew at high speed back towards the ship, "I'll chop you up and Sanji can cook you! Then Luffy can eat you!" With that, the swordsman leapt off the small boat, flashed his swords and began swinging at the so called, 'stupid fish'. Thin flashes of blood leapt up from the wounds Zoro created on the creature's thick hide, but no matter what he did… the swordsman couldn't fly. Eventually he fell into the ocean, leaving the creature wounded… but no less alive. Hitting the water with a splash that was barely audible over the creature's loud wail, Zoro resurfaced a second later to swim straight for the fish thing.

"Stupid, bastard, idiot, fish… thing!" Zoro swore as he swam at high speed straight at his 'opponent'. Turning both large eyes downwards towards the small, green haired speck that was Zoro… the fish thing opened it's cavernous mouth wide, sharp teeth lining the lips, palate, tongue, and circling all the way right back to it's gullet. Zoro paused…

_Maybe__…__ not such a good idea__…_He thought before growling slightly and advancing anyway, _Yep. Definitely a Luffy type idea__…_And yet, he kept advancing. His arms and legs continued to push him towards the large mouth… Placing the bone handle of Wadou between his teeth, Zoro narrowed his eyes as he reached the thing's lips and twisting his lower body… he planted both sets of feet on the lower lip of the creature's mouth. Sinking down slightly, he bent his knees and shoved, hard. The force of his push both caused a deafening squeal of pain from the beast, and hefted Zoro upwards towards the top lip. Gritting his teeth, he sunk both swords into the more easily pierced flesh. This earned him another deafening squeal.

"Shouldn't…" and he twisted the swords nastily, "Stand between me… and my friends!" and he stabbed harshly upwards, ignoring the way the teeth he had planted his shoes on… were stabbing through the tough soles of his boots and into the soft arches of his feet. The creature's eyes were watering heavily with pain, not to mention the foul smelling blood that was coating Zoro completely. Green eyes widened as he suddenly found the lip above him… clamping downwards at an incredible speed.

"Shit!" he growled, before yanking the swords free and pushing off of the teeth. He grunted as the teeth stabbed into his feet and then pulled out again as he leapt free. The lips slammed together with an echoing thud. Slamming back into the water, Zoro worked his way to the surface and gasped for air as the being thrashed about… and turned sideways. Two eyes glared at him and Zoro grimaced before frowning. 

"Asshole… it's your own damn fault." he growled before yelling as he found a spiky fin under him. It slashed upwards, cutting through the backs of his pants and up through the back of his shirt, leaving long and thin slashes in his skin. Though seemingly shallow, Zoro felt a strange tingling sensation running through his body, and it stemmed from those wounds.

_The salt__…_He growled harshly in his head, before starting to swim towards the still glaring beast before him. The was a loud growl from the beast, before another of those fins scraped over the backs of his calves. No pain or tingling stemmed from the wounds this time, and Zoro was grateful for the natural drug known as adrenaline. But… was it just him… or was he slowing down?

_Damn__…__ the water! _He swore silently as he continued back towards his enemy. No… he was too slow for it just to be water weight… And his arms, _and _legs! Nothing was moving!

"A… d-da…" he stuttered, but no noise would come from his mouth! DAMN! He was underwater too! What the fuck!? It was _then _that his brain decided to dredge up the memory of Sanji telling Nami about how some fish had poisonous spines that would immobilise their prey before eating it. …Wait… Eating!? … He was SO doomed. A loud explosion that he wasn't even sure he heard, caused the water around him to ripple and quake. He had no idea what it was, or what it had been… hell, his brain wasn't even on _speaking_ terms with the rest of his nervous system. His eyes could see, but no thoughts, or images or ideas seemed to connect to his brain. Flashes of blue, then green… then brown… and a large smattering of red to go right along with it.

… Nice.

---

Sanji heaved a sigh as Luffy climbed yet another tree.

"Idiot…" he muttered under his breath as he glanced from side to side to make sure every skerrick of edible food had been found… and then consumed by the never ending pit of a captain. 

"Woohoo, Sanji! You should see it from up here!" Luffy crowed from his perch atop the very tip of the tree. He turned to look down at his friend and grinned slightly. 'Hmphing' in annoyance, the blonde glanced around at the undergrowth before squeaking slightly as a rather large and furry spider crawled out from between a few leaves on the ground. Shuddering, he took a very _large _step away from the creature before pausing as a resounding 'boom' echoed around the island.

"What the…?" Sanji muttered.

"Sounds like Merry's cannon!" Luffy called down, his face entirely serious. The blonde beneath him nodded silently. The was another 'boom' and then a loud 'crack' like something had fallen down and hit the water.

"Whoooooaaaa…" Luffy breathed in awe as a large, almost three mile high fountain of water spurted into the air and then fell glittering to Earth again.

"What?" Sanji asked, not able to see anything through the trees. He was sure it was some sort of random bird or something Luffy found absolutely fascinating, but it didn't hurt to ask. He paused and blinked though when water hit his face and he looked up to sees something flailing through the air before it disappeared into the forest a long way away.

"Ooh, there goes Zoro." Sanji commented, raising a hand to his cigarette and not looking worried, or fazed in the slightest.

"Zoro can fly!" Luffy chuckled as he leapt down from the tree and grinned at the blonde. Sanji shrugged slightly before he sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I'm guessing we go find him, yes?"

"Of course! He may know the way back to the ship!" and Luffy bolted off into the undergrowth.

"Yippee…" Sanji commented to himself, knowing that Zoro would have absolutely no idea where the hell he even _was _let alone how to get back to the ship. He kept pace with Luffy easily until the captain slowed to a marching walk… and started singing. Suddenly, the chef had the innate urge to commit mutiny.

---

When Zoro came to, he was lying with what must have been at least a bucket of dirt up his nose. Wait… no, not just that. The side of his face was sticky… Grunting slightly, he opened his eyes and blinked almost dazedly at the hand lying beside his face. It… was red. Blinking a little more to try and clear his vision, he realised that there were small lumps of dark, congealed blood colouring his skin. Slowly lifting on of his fingers, he blinked a little when he didn't feel anything. No pain, not even a twinge… nothing. Carefully sitting up, he blinked a little as blood rushed in his ears and dirt fell away in sticky clumps from his face.

Looking down at his own imprint in the earth below, he made a soft noise of confusion when… absolutely nothing hurt. Now, he was able to handle extreme amounts of pain as if it was a mere nip on his finger. But… when he was beaten up by a fish, blown out of the water, and then sent into the ground at such a force… well, he'd expect to feel _something_. Spitting out bloody tasting dirt and forcing himself not to gag as a reflex to the residue on the top of his tongue, he gradually made his way to his feet and then leant against a tree for support. He was weakened… probably by blood loss. The skid mark he'd made upon impact, was glittering red, blood still pooled on the surface in places.

"…o'…" he noised, but his tongue refused to co-operate, and instead of saying 'wow' like he intended… he bit the side of his tongue instead. Growling in aggravation at the sharp tang of blood leaking into his mouth, he paused when he noticed… no, that didn't hurt at all. What the hell was going on here? Was the fish's poison still at work or…? Had he, by some idiotic miracle that was usually only associated with his insane captain, escaped that whole thing unharmed? He thought it over for five seconds before shaking his head and dismissing it entirely. He wasn't a devil fruit user, nor was he a rubber man, and it didn't matter how tough he made himself, Luffy would still have the advantage of being able to bounce back. Literally. Hence, he was harmed and the fish's poison was still at work in his system.

Well… maybe he should take advantage of that? Looking down at himself, Zoro sighed slightly when he saw that the backs of his pants around the calves and over his thighs, was ripped to shreds. Not only that, but his skin beneath was stained a nice dark red, the wet edges of the weird material sticking to his legs. Usually, this would create large amounts of discomfort but… right now, he could feel no such thing. All he knew was that he was moving, and his muscles were co-operating, but that was it. His nerves weren't on speaking terms with him yet, but when they came back online… woohoo, he was in for one hell of a shock. His Haramaki was in tatters, bits and pieces of it lying around either soaked in blood or half buried in the disturbed earth. His shirt… well, his shirt was pretty much intact.

Hmm, Haramaki destroyed… that meant something. Haramaki, Haramaki… Something to do with something sharp… SWORDS! Where were his swords!? Snapping his head back and forth, Zoro groaned slightly as his world dimmed dramatically. Yeah… Shaking his head like that, not such a grand idea. But he had to find his katana… Frowning heavily as he leaned away from the tree, he made a soft sound as his body swayed almost to the point where he was about ready to pass out. And still he felt nothing. No pain at all… Fuck, it was too weird really.

"…sa…" he grunted as he dropped back against the tree again. He wasn't even capable of normal speech… Damn… Shifting back to his feet again, he turned and began working his way around the area in slow, and certainly not properly shaped, circles. After a while though, he forgot what he was even looking for as his body finally gave out on him. Never had he experienced such a hopeless, and absolutely horrible feeling running through him as he did at the moment when his knees buckled and he fell face forward into a large patch of tall, cool, green grass. He let out a soft and almost angry noise. He wasn't unconscious… but he was damned if he could move.

---

Sanji was absolutely, one hundred percent sure that he had seen that same damn bush at least ten times now. How did he know? Because he'd picked the damn thing dry of berries the FIRST freakin' time he'd seen it! Stopping in place, he turned and inspected the bush thoroughly just to make sure.

"Oi, Luffy…" he muttered. The singing ahead stopped abruptly and the straw hatted captain turned to look back at the blonde.

"Naa?"

"We're walking in circles, idiot." Sanji said as he stood straight again and sighed heavily, smoke wisping from his mouth.

"How do you know?" Luffy asked as he walked back and blinked at the chef.

"Because I've seen this same damn bush at least ten times. I say we go a different direction, eh?"

"Hmm… how about this way?" the captain suggested, pointing to the right of the direction they had up until now, been repeatedly taking.

"Sure, looks fine to me. Marimo's probably dead already anyway." the blonde commented, once again not giving the slightest damn. Chuckling merrily, Luffy slapped Sanji jovially on the shoulder.

"You're so funny!" and he (once again) began humming merrily as they did indeed (once again) take the same direction they had been taking that last ten times. Blinded by his annoyance at both being slapped on the shoulder, and being told he was funny, Sanji promptly forgot they were going right and (third time's the charm) followed after his captain. They walked for a fair while after that, pausing only briefly to take a drink from a small stream that Luffy had discovered. Deeming it that streams tended to run straight, or would eventually lead them back to the beach again, Sanji said that they would follow that course of action.

When Luffy tried to protest, Sanji simply kicked him into a tree. The chef wasn't happy about being separated from his beloved Nami-san for so long, and he wasn't at all happy about wandering around in the middle of a dense, damp, and stifling forest. At least on the beach there would be some sort of cool ocean breeze, and they would be able to fish and see the ship if it came close. Unfortunately, as it stood, the stream in fact led to a small oasis in the very heart of the forest. The oasis was surrounded by a large, grassy patch that, under a different circumstance, would have made for a wonderful picnic spot.

"Naa…" Luffy whined as he deflated and then moved over to the water's edge, "A stupid pond. I thought you said this was gonna lead us to Zoro!" Sanji sighed a little, moving over to stand beside his pouting captain.

"I never said it would lead us to Marimo brain, I said it would either lead us across the island, or back to the beach." he defended as he crouched down and scooped up a handful of the water to wash his face with. A loud 'ribbet' made him look up and blink as a frog floated on a lily pad near to him.

"Hmm?" he noised, watching as the frog stared at him with large and bulbous eyes. It wasn't thinking about jumping on him was it? It didn't look poisonous… he hoped. It was a funny coloured green, almost the same colour as the lily pad it was sitting on. What the stupid thing was doing out in the open like this, he had no idea. Didn't it know that it was in serious danger of being either eaten, or prodded by a rubber captain nearby? Of course it didn't. It's day consisted of eat a fly, and then stare at nothing as it's lily pad slowly revolved it's way around the edge of the pond. The next day it would probably eat two flies and then stare at a tree off in the distance just for a change. Gee, what a fun life. 

"What's that?" Luffy asked as he crouched down and looked too, "Oooh, a frog! Heh heh!" and he reached out a hand to do something only Luffy would do, which was prod it in the chest. The frog inflated slightly, puffing it's chest and throat up as it glared at the boy before it. Sighing as he listened to the frog's offended 'ribbets' and Luffy's continuing laughter and shouts of 'so cool!', Sanji settled himself back onto the grass and crossed his arms over his knees. What the hell was this place? So far he had seen nothing special about it but… it just seemed so big. When Nami had shown him the island on the map, it had appeared to be a mere spec on the sheet of parchment but… the actual island itself seemed absolutely _huge _when you were walking around on it.

"AHHH!!" Luffy suddenly screamed as the frog decided enough was enough, and leapt onto his face, clinging with padded and sticky feet as the rubber boy ran back and forth, screaming that he was blinded. Sanji paid no attention what so ever, continuing to think about how the hell they were going to get out of this place.

"Oi, come on Luffy." he said as he got back to his feet again, brushing off the seat of his pants and the backs of his legs before turning to raise a swirly eyebrow as Luffy ran headlong into a tree. The frog made a getaway over the boy's head, ribbetting and croaking for all it was worth before it dived back into the pond again as if nothing had happened.

"Oww…" Luffy whined as he rubbed at his now reddened and bleeding nose, "Stupid frog…" After giving it a good solid glare, he quickly turned and trotted after the blonde chef as they made an exit through the forest. Once again the two found themselves walking for a long time, even Luffy getting rather ticked off by the heat and the fact that the place was a never ending movie of tree, bush, vine, ground, tree, bush, vine, etcetera, etcetera. He wanted adventure, he wanted to see something cool! Like monkeys, or lions, or even a stripey snake would have been cool! An abnormally sized worm would have done the trick. A damn BEETLE even! But nope. There was nothing. Anything that seemed to be in their path, quickly fled before either of them had the chance to look at it, let alone let an inquisitive pirate captain prod it.

"Marimo must've flown a fair way…" Sanji commented into the silence as he tugged slightly at the collar of his shirt. It was so hot in here… Luffy nodded a little in response, tongue lolling from his mouth more in boredom than thirst, though he was obviously hungry from the continuing growling coming from the boy's stomach.

"Maybe he landed on the other side of the island?" the boy captain suggested, grabbing a branch with a nice grouping of healthy looking green leaves on it, and breaking it off so he could fan himself with it.

"Maybe…" Sanji shrugged in response, copying Luffy's idea. A swarm of gnats flew up in an angry black, speckled spiral. Waving a hand at them irritably, he sighed when they flew off, quite obviously scandalised. Fanning himself with the branch, Luffy paused a little as an interesting smell reached his nose. He knew that smell… it was like the smell of mud, combined with a tangy, coppery smell that he thought… Yes, it was. He knew that smell! It was blood!

"I smell blood and mud." he stated bluntly as he turned off the track and started trudging through the thick undergrowth. Sanji blinked.

"Ehhh?" He noised, confused as hell as to why Luffy just suddenly decided to take an off road detour. Oh well… if he questioned it then he would just drive himself nuts with the boringness and simple idiocy of whatever plan Luffy had up his sleeve. Don't get him wrong, he didn't mind it when Luffy actually came up with a bright idea during a fight, or even on the ship when something went totally and utterly wrong and the boy captain would step in and perform his role perfectly. But when they got into situations like this… well, he wasn't exactly willing to put up with the bastard's bullshit.

"I have no idea where you're going, Luffy… but it better be freakin' good 'cause I'm sick of trudging around this oven of a forest…" the blonde grumbled and whinged as he followed the dark haired boy through the shrubbery.

"It's getting stronger… can't you smell it?" the captain called back, his voice serious. Sanji blinked a little at the tone and sniffed the air a little. Indeed it did smell like mud and blood… Wow, trust Luffy to act smart just when the chef was too pissed with him to speak.

"You think the stupid Marimo hurt himself when he hit land?" the blonde asked, also serious. If the smell of blood was this strong, then it was sure to attract… unwelcome visitors. Lions, tigers, and meat eating predators (that could have been why Luffy had smelt it) would be flocking to the area anytime soon, and if Marimo was hurt… well, he didn't stand a good chance of surviving a fight with too many teeth and claws to count. Finally they moved out into a small clearing and Luffy paused, eyes widening slightly as he gazed down at the scene before him. A fair size skid mark, mud kicked up and speckling the green carpet of grass. A blemish on the face of a beautiful piece of clearing. Yep, Zoro had been here alright.

"Wow… that's gotta hurt." Sanji muttered as he moved over and crouched down by the far end of the skid mark, frowning a little as he reached out and touched the earth. Cold. That meant that Zoro must have been long gone.

"Look…" Luffy muttered, pulling something from the dirt and holding it up, grimacing slightly at the mud as he shook it free and then frowning at the dark, blood stained material, "It's Zoro's haramaki…" 

"Fucking hell…" the blonde commented quietly, grimacing at the long trail of sticky and shining blood left on the mud. The smell wasn't too fantastic either.

"He must be okay, because he's not here." 

"Something may have gotten to him before we did…" Sanji muttered. Luffy turned sharp eyes on the chef.

"Zoro wouldn't let something eat him… even if he were wounded." he frowned. Shrugging as he got to his feet and stuck his hands into his pockets, the blonde sighed a little.

"Well… we may as well look for him." he sighed, dropping his cigarette to the ground and grinding his heel down on it before pulling out another one and lighting it. Sighing out a stream of smoke, he opened his eyes again to see Luffy was… gone.

"Oi!" he yelled, grabbing the cig from his mouth and looking around, "OI! Luffy!" There was no response. Nothing but a soft rustling as a light breeze picked up. Pausing a little, Sanji sniffed the air. He could smell rain… There was a storm coming.

"Fuck it all!" he growled as he stomped off, hoping he was heading in the same direction as what Luffy was going in. If not... well, he was screwed then, wasn't he?

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**Reviews would be greatly appreciated. Please? **


	3. This place sucks

**Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter, and I will get back to you soon, I swear. But I'm a little worried. Not many reviews coming in for this. Do you guys not like it? Am I doing something wrong? If you're busy and really only have time to copy it and then read it later, then that's okay. But really, I wanna hear from you. If you don't like it, then tell me **_**why**_** you don't like it. Ok? I know it's only chapter 3, but still. Thanks again to those who have already reviewed, or are going to review. :) **

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_**Chapter 3 : This place sucks**__**…**___

The pirate captain heard his chef's calls, but he made no move to reply or go back. His face was set, a light frown on his features. It was HIS fault that he and Sanji were trapped on this Island. HIS fault that something had happened to Zoro and was now badly wounded. Luffy was smart enough to realise that for someone to lost that much blood, they _had _to be hurt. He'd lost enough blood to know that it weakened you severely the more you lost. From the looks of it… Zoro would barely have enough strength to stand, and yet he was walking around out here somewhere. Looking for _him_.

"Zoro!" He called, shoving a small tree out of his way and glaring around. He was pissed… His first mate and best friend was somewhere possibly _dying _because he'd decided he wanted to explore an Island that Nami warned him against.

"Stupid…" he muttered. If he'd killed Zoro… if he'd destroyed the man's chance at fulfilling his dream… he'd never forgive himself.

"Zoro!" He called, grimacing as a loud rumble of thunder echoed overhead. Dark clouds were quickly gathering, blocking out the sun and dimming the Island dramatically. Soon rain would begin to pour and _then _what would he do? Frowning heavily and continuing his search, Luffy didn't even twitch as lightning flashed and thunder cracked almost right beside him. He would keep searching. Didn't matter what happened… he would find him.

---

Well… this sucked. He was unable to move, and there was a nice gathering of some rather unpleasant looking little creatures heading straight towards him. He didn't know what they were as of yet, as they were still too far away for him to discern proper shapes and features. Letting out a soft sigh through his nose, Zoro attempted to shift his hand, and groaned a little as his fingers twitched and pain shot down his arm like fire before dulling dramatically. The fish's poison was wearing off, but that wasn't exactly good or bad right now. Good, because hopefully he would be able to move then. Bad, because then he'd get a massive rush of pain ALL at once. He was strong, but from the mangled look of his body… shit, he didn't know if he could handle it. It was like holding a hammer over a glass vase… Hit the right spot, and it'd shatter into a million pieces. Hit it multiple times, and there would be nothing left of it. Nothing but powder and memories. Zoro didn't want to become powder and memories. Hell, he didn't want to be shattered into a million pieces either. That did NOT sound like a fun idea.

Heaving a soft breath, he noticed a twinge in his chest too. Yep… if he was right, then he'd probably broken at least two ribs, possibly three. His gut ached like Sanji had been kicking him too many times, and his legs were beginning to literally spear with pain that stemmed from the inside of the backs of his calf muscles and straight up into the backs of his thighs, making him think that more than one or two muscles back there had been pulled pretty badly. It was like fire was dancing along every nerve in his thighs, muscles and bones every time he shifted and tried to move. Looking back ahead again, he blinked a little as those little creatures had become a lot closer. They were practically to him now.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, he finally recognised what they were. Swarms of forest ticks, groups of leeches, fleas, and blood sucking insects were making a beeline for the feast that was his mangled body. Narrowed eyes widened incredibly before he grunted slightly and bit deeply into the grass beneath his face in an attempt to fight against the pain stabbing through him as he struggled to get to his feet before they could reach him. Slowly, he managed to get up and swayed dramatically before stumbling backwards away from the creatures, bumping into trees and grimacing at his lifeless arms. Pain made him clench his teeth so hard that they crunched and crackled, but he didn't care. As long as he didn't cry out. That would be too much of a show of weakness.

As if someone, somewhere, had heard that particular thought, pain that stemmed from the base of his spine, lanced throughout his entire body. It was like someone was biting and chewing on his nerves from the inside. He stumbled and clenched one eye shut, breath catching in his throat as the pain echoed everytime he took a step. Fuck… he'd really banged himself up this time. The little bugs faded slowly into the grass and soon, Zoro sighed in relief. Nothing was gonna be sucking his blood and giving him some weird ass disease today! Nuh-uh! Turning, he blinked blearily as he came face to face with something that looked vaguely familiar. Narrowing his eyes slightly, and trying to see past the blur that was taking over them, he groaned slightly.

"…'sopp?" He noised before he heaved a deep breath and grunted at the pain that sent a spasm through his entire body. The thing he apparently thought was Usopp, was in fact a tree, it's small branch exactly at the same height as the sniper's pencil-like nose. Leaning forward, he tried to make out the features of his 'friend' but just couldn't and with a rather annoyed groan, his knees buckled and gave out on him again, this time sending his head into the trunk of the silent Usopp and making him blackout. He sure hoped those stupid little blood-suckers had given up on him… If not, well, life sucked right now anyway. What did it matter if he got some weird ass disease? … Yeah, he really hoped those stupid little bastards had decided to go home and cry to their little families because he _really _did not want to get sick.

---

Sanji was lost… It was rare that he said that, but damn it all, he had no freakin' idea where in the name of Great Blue he was. Rolling his cigarette around a little with his tongue out of pure habit, he started forward again. This place was truly weird. Thunder snapped over head, louder and more threatening than any of the strikes before and he was starting to get mildly worried. If he didn't find cover soon, then he would be struck by lightning for sure. And if not that, then a tree in the forest would be struck, that would spark a fire, and then he would die here without ever having gotten to see his beloved Nami-san's face ever again. At that absolutely devastating thought, the blonde bit his lip and sobbed slightly.

"Nami-swan…" he mumbled, "Robin-chwan…" Sighing a little, he moved on. He missed his ladies… Serving them drinks, little sweets, anything he could do just to see their smiles. It was all he could do to not break down crying when lightning flashed dangerously low overhead. Instead, he started running forward, waving his arms and crying 'Nami-swan! Robin-chwan!' like a child would go crying for their parents. It wasn't until his foot caught on something and he smashed face first into a tree that he finally realised he was being an idiot and that he should probably pay more attention to where the fuck he was and what he was doing.

"What the…?" He mumbled, looking down at the long grass that hid pretty much all of his feet and most of his lower legs. Tapping his foot gently against what had tripped him, he blinked when it moved.

"… Zoro?" He asked, about to crouch down. Ha ha, yeah sure. Like finding the marimo was gonna be that easy. All crouching ceased when out of the long grass rose a snake of the exact same green colour as the forest floor. It had long fangs that were bared currently at the chef, it's tongue was flickering angrily and it's eyes… heh, if that was annoyed, he'd hate to see what pissed was. The creature's head was almost the size of both of Sanji's fists put together and it's body was about the thickness of one of Zoro's arms plus one of Luffy's. It was a freaking big snake… Frowning heavily, Sanji glared back at it.

"What do you want?" he growled, getting ready to shift his weight backwards should the snake attack. The creature continued hissing ferociously, before it did just that. It jerked forward at such a speed that it's fangs almost sunk into the chef's pants. He'd only just managed to dodge the stupid thing.

"Holy shit… You're a fast bastard…" he grouched, jumping backwards again as the snake struck out once more. Coiling it's muscular body, it launched itself forward instead, striking at the now almost desperately dodging blonde human.

"What the hell…? What did I do to you?!" he yelled as the thing just barely missed his hand. The snake gave another loud hiss, but unfortunately for Sanji, he didn't understand snake language and therefore was in the dark as to how he had ticked the creature off so badly. Well, this thing was really starting to piss him off right now. And it didn't look like the dumb-assed thing would be giving up anytime soon either… Guess it was time to take action.

"Fuck…" he began as he stopped dodging and shifted his weight onto one foot, stretching the other out in a roundhouse kick, "OFF!" With a mingled squeal and hiss, the snake did just that as it was kicked. It flew through the trees to hit a rather large trunk and then dropped to the ground again, quickly slithering away to find something it could eat without being kicked and mortally wounded. Huffing a sigh, the blonde noted that he had just lost another damn cig while fighting that creature. Growling softly, he checked his pocket and sighed a little when he saw he only had three or so left. Damn… He was going to have to make them last. Who knew when they would be getting off of this island? It could be another five days yet before they figured out a way to get off and get back to Merry. Pausing when he felt something wet hit his nose, the blonde looked up at the sky and grimaced when rain began to gently patter over him.

"Double damn…" he muttered to himself before shifting his last smokes to a safer place where they wouldn't get wet as easily. If they got wet, that was it… they'd be destroyed. THEN he'd have something to worry about. Nicotine cravings weren't exactly an easy boat to sail in. First there was the twitching at not having something in his mouth, and the fact that there was nothing to sustain him and keep him calm when he started losing control. Then would come the headaches, the irritability, and the emotional spazzes that he would have. Going from giggling to yelling at something for simply being alive. THEN, oh then there would be the nausea, the general sluggish feeling, the tiredness. He was already ready to strangle the trees for mocking him in their green-ness. They just wouldn't freakin' end! And he was smoking _then_, so… yeah, if he lost his cigs. Heh… he wasn't going to be a happy bunny.

Sighing heavily, he hunched his shoulders against the rain that was now pouring down over his face, off his chin and soaking his jacket. He'd secured those last cigarettes in a small plastic bag he'd had on him from the morning before Luffy had rocketed them both onto this Island and then had put the bag into his shirt's chest pocket. Right now, he would have given anything to be aboard Merry, securing her sails and then hurrying into the kitchen to make something warm to drink. But nope, he was out here, freezing his ass off and hoping that sooner or later he would run across either Luffy or Zoro, or better yet, BOTH! Both at the same time sounded like an absolutely wonderful idea…

---

Luffy trudged onwards, ignoring the way his sandals kept slipping in the mud that was quickly forming beneath him. Mere seconds ago it had been a solid, green grass carpeted ground and now it was turning into a swamp! Thunder crashed louder than ever, but it was barely heard over the sound of pouring rain pattering onto leaves and trees in a loud, drumming symphony. Luffy was soaked through and through, water streaming off of his hat and dripping from his nose, chin and eyelashes. The tips of his hair were damp and sticking, letting small rivulets run down his face. He was freezing too… though he hadn't as of yet really noticed, being the focused and determined human being he was. Dark eyes were set on the road ahead, hoping for at least SOME sign that he was close to finding his friend.

Sometimes, he would think that he had seen something green, but then when he ran to check it out, it was only a surviving piece of grass. He'd noticed that Sanji had disappeared as well, and though he was more focused on finding Zoro because he seemed the one to be hurt in this case, he was worried about where his chef had gotten to as well. If BOTH of his friends got hurt because he was stupid enough to not think before doing, then he was seriously going to consider becoming a MUCH more responsible human being. Either that or he'd just throw himself overboard to save them all the trouble. … Oh wait, he couldn't swim. They'd just save him anyway… hm, he'd do _something_ anyway. Blinking as there was a loud 'thlurping' noise, he looked down to see one of his sandals suctioned into the mud, his now bare toes wriggling in the rain. Sighing in slight annoyance, he bent down to grab it up, but blinked when the mud wouldn't let go.

"Oi. I need my sandal, give it back…" he quite sternly told the mud, but nope, the black and sticky goop wasn't letting go. Pulling with all his might, Luffy finally managed to get it free, but then he overbalanced and fell over backwards. There was a loud 'slop!' noise as he hit the mud and frowned when he began to sink.

"Gah!" he noised, starting to scrabble to get free. He sunk down a little way before he finally managed to pull himself up and out, standing and hurrying onwards to get away from the sticky mud. Turning back as he walked away from the area, he stuck his tongue out at the mud… then promptly tripped over something in front of him. He blinked when he felt two long something's that were soft, but firm underneath his stomach. Quickly shuffling backwards, he blinked as he saw just what it was he'd fallen over. Mingled relief… and horror ran through him as he got a full view of exactly what he'd been looking for.

"…Zoro."

---

He hated this place. He hated the rain. He hated the whole, goddamned ISLAND! Now huddling under a large leafy tree, was Sanji. The greenery didn't provide much in the way of warmth, but at least it lessened the pounding rain down to a light mist and occasional heavy drops on his already soaked head. His hair was clinging to his face and ears, small twigs from standing under the tree caught in it.

"L-Luffy, I p-promise when I f-find you… I'm going to make you a b-big lunch." he muttered under his breath, before his eyes narrowed dangerously, "And fill it w-with p-p-pure peppers… Yeah… nothing B-BUT p-peppers…" A sardonic smile came to his face as he thought about how Luffy would run around squealing about needing water, and grabbing at his throat. With any luck, the little bastard would strangle himself and they'd all be able to do what they pleased. The thoughts were cruel, but right now Sanji was in no mood to be nice to anyone.

His teeth were chattering so hard it was a wonder they hadn't cracked from hitting together so much and at such a speed. His whole body was soaked, his suit literally streaming with water. Soon, he would have to exit from this shelter. If the rain didn't let up before he decided it was time to leave, then he'd just have to deal with it. At least the hard pounding of the icy water would numb his skin and make it easier for him to deal with it. Huffing out another breath, he frowned as a branch over head shifted… and a very LARGE amount of water showered down onto him.

"… I have the distinct feeling I've done something to offend someone upstairs." he muttered, turning an ironically slanted eye on the leaves and dirty grey sky above him. THAT, was when he saw it. It wasn't much more than a flicker of a pair of sharp white fangs and lightly glinting eyes… but he saw it. And it freaked him out too.

"I'm… just gonna go now…" he chattered out before shifting slowly and carefully away from under the large tree, hoping that the slow movement wouldn't alert the creature to his presence. The thing looked nasty, and he didn't particularly feel like fighting right now. Shifting carefully backwards, Sanji paused as he felt something touch the back of his head and hair. Turning slowly, Sanji's worst nightmare had just come true. Standing before him, and unlike ANYTHING he had ever seen before… was a very large, very hairy, eight legged spider. It's eight eyes were glittering in the rain, but it didn't seem to mind the wet weather at all. In fact, it kind of seemed to like it. Thick, black hair glittered in the rain, pincers clacking together and a very ugly mouth showing a pair of loooong fangs that Sanji wanted absolutely _nothing _to do with right now.

The creature must have been at least the size of a well built horse, it's long legs reaching almost double Sanji's height as they arched and held the bulbous body off the ground. Letting out a very unmanly squeak, Sanji began backing away from the large thing, only to discover that what he had seen before… heh, it'd brought friends. Gliding down out of the tree on thin silky strands, were spiders the size of dogs. All looked the same… scary. If it had of been anything else. _Anything_. He would have kicked it to kingdom come already… but spiders? Ha, you had to be kidding! Looking around, the poor blonde saw he was surrounded.

What was he going to do now…?

---

Blinking slowly back at his captain, vaguely Zoro recognised the figure. His face was splattered with mud, water running into his eyes and making it almost impossible for him to see anything. A soft, almost weak clicking noise announced that his teeth were chattering because of the cold. Usually tanned skin, was almost milky white, circles of red outlining his wounds and his mouth, nose and eyes. Slowly, his eyes blinked again, his skin still numb from the fish's poison. How long would this blasted thing _last _for shit's sake? He heard a vague mentioning of his name, but was too slow in the head to recognise the voice, or even the tone of it.

Small parts of his body were now able to feel properly, but were numbing again quickly with the cold. It was more when he shifted that feeling returned, and when it did, it did so with a vengeance. It caused shooting sharp pains to run through him like arrows or spears. He felt a hand rest on his back and blinked a little more, grunting as he squinted and tried to see just who it was in front of him. Blurry black hair, water streaming off a… golden sort of coloured hat? A slash of red across that, below that there was a blotch of pale pink and then a large wavering mix of red and blue. Okay… combine those colours. Who did they bring to mind? A circus tent? … What an idiotic idea. …Luffy? He was the only one in their group who wore such a large amount of red. It _had _to be him!

"'uffy…" he managed, grimacing as he bit his own tongue and frowning as he tasted blood. Yay, more blood. Heaving a deep breath, he began to shift.

"Stay down, Zoro…" Luffy suggested, eyeing his second mate with light concern.

"M'fine…" Zoro grunted, shifting his legs and starting to get to his feet. With someone around, he was less inclined to show his pain and therefore, when he finally managed to get to his feet again, his face was passive and calm, though it was now a similar, but much lighter colour than his hair.

"… Ok." Luffy nodded, getting up and standing beside him. The situation was serious, therefore calling for serious thinking.

"Do…" Clearing his throat a little, Zoro sighed when he realised it wasn't his throat obstructing his speech. He was still unable to speak properly. Tapping Luffy's shoulder, he gained the boy's attention and then pointed at his own mouth and shrugged. Blinking rapidly, the boy captain raised an eyebrow slightly.

"You're… hungry?" he asked, scratching his head. Dropping his head into his palm, the swordsman shook it.

"No…" he grunted, wincing as his tongue went it's own direction and managed to trap itself under his teeth once more. Blood leaked into his mouth again and he sighed as his head span a little. He was still dizzy…

"You… umm, can't…" Luffy tried again, watching Zoro carefully, "OH! You can't speak, right?" Sighing a little in relief, the green haired teen nodded. He almost, _almost _grunted when a sharp spear of pain ran it's way down his spine. Reaching out in a move that was born from any human instinct to keep standing, he grabbed Luffy's shoulder as his knees attempted to buckle. Blinking, the captain quickly reached out and grabbed the older teen around the back, heaving him to his feet again and frowning slightly. What was wrong? … Zoro's injuries must have been bad for him to be like this. The swordsman could usually go through quite literally, the mill, and come out still walking and talking. Alibi, he'd be pissed about it, but he would be quite able to stand.

"You need Chopper…" he stated. If Zoro had been coherent, he would have made the sarcastic comment of 'no duh.' but as it stood, he was unable to even _give _Luffy a sarcastic look. That was bad… When his sarcasm failed him, then he _had _to be in pain. The rain had lessened slightly, instead of pouring it was now a light drizzle that was barely felt on the two teens' cold and numb skin. Thunder was still rumbling gently, though with a lot less anger and ferocity than it had been a few minutes ago. Lightning was flashing in the clouds, occasionally lighting up the dark forest but not as much of a danger as it was before. At the precise moment when Zoro began to collapse again, his eyes rolling up into his head and his mouth falling slack as his knees buckled, a loud scream echoed over the Island.

Blinking a little, Luffy recognised the inflection as being Sanji's. Hang on… Sanji didn't scream! That meant… the chef was in danger! For the blonde to scream in such a way, it had to be bad. Whether Sanji could handle it or not, Luffy didn't care… it was his responsibility as captain to look after and defend his crew mates, just as it was their responsibility to obey him and fight for him, doing as he commanded and helping to guide him in the right direction if he went astray. Whether he actually paid attention to their helping him or not, well, that was Luffy's decision. Frowning deeply, the captain looked towards his first mate and grimaced.

Zoro was out of it this time. His eyes were closed, his mouth slack and his skin tinged with blue and mottled light green. He wasn't a healthy swordsman… Twisting an arm around the thin waist, he flicked the much heavier man onto his back. Grabbing the muscled arms, he pulled them forward and locked them around his neck. Just like he had with Nami when she had been sick back at Drum. Reaching around, he hefted him up, clenching the man's thighs so he didn't fall. Making sure he had a firm hold on the swordsman, Luffy nodded to himself and then bolted through the trees, back towards where he had heard Sanji's scream.

---

Sanji had screamed for one- well, actually, he had screamed for at least twenty reasons. Yes, twenty, hairy legged, tickling, tiny reasons that had worked their way up the back of his shirt and were now shimmying up towards his shoulders and neck. His skin was absolutely crawling, his eyes literally the same size as dinner plates as he ripped off his jacket and began clawing at his shirt, pulling it off and shaking it around, trying to rid himself of the little beasts. The largest of the horrible beings was making it's slow and leisurely advance towards the thoroughly distracted chef. The other smaller seven were coming up behind the blonde, clicking their pincers and drooling at the long awaited feast. It had been a long time since they had feasted on anything that looked so tantalizingly delicious.

To them, all Sanji was, was a very large free juice box. Choc full of bloody goodness. Dancing around like a madman in nothing but his pants, the chef was now clawing desperately at his back, ten of the little creatures still crawling their way up and down his skin. They weren't able to get a hold and bite, so they just continued to scurry around, waiting for the opportunity to sink their fangs in. Turning, Sanji booted two of the seven medium sized spiders out of his path and then ran to the tree trunk. Without a second's thought, he turned and slammed his back against the rough bark, jumping up and down and then pulling away and sighing in relief when no tickly spider legs hurried up and down his spine. He grimaced in disgust though when he saw the tree's bark was covered in splattered spiders.

"Bastards…" he muttered before blinking as the lead spider - the largest one - and his smaller companions now had him backed against the tree and were surrounding him easily.

"…Crap." he noised, frowning a little. Okay… If he didn't fight here, then he was going to be defeated by spiders. No way was he going to let that happen… Falling into a fighting stance, he frowned at the little bastards as they hurried towards him. The foremost spider made a brave leap, and then found itself flying sideways through the air, sent on a one way trip to hurt-ville by a pissed off Chef's foot. At his success, Sanji's confidence towards these beasts sky-rocketed. As each spider got closer, he booted it and caused it to fly either into the air, or into a tree. The seven medium spiders were easily defeated, squealing in distress and then running away, much like the snake from before. Not wanting to try again against such a tough meal. The horse sized spider though… heh, it wasn't giving up so easily. And Sanji found his confidence wavering as it slowly advanced towards it's prey.

Twisting a little, the blonde frowned and then attempted to kick the creature's eyes. Wrong move… The beast practically slapped his foot away with one of it's own, before using another foot to shove Sanji backwards onto the trunk of the tree. A hairy toed leg slammed into him, pressing up under his chin and holding his upper body still. Another hairy leg jerked out and slammed over the chef's stomach and lower body, pressing his knees against the trunk of the tree so he was unable to move. He had _no _chance of escape if he couldn't hit or kick. What the hell was he supposed to do!? Grimacing as pincers opened wide, baring long fangs dripping with a pale yellow goop… Sanji gulped and closed his eyes.

"Gomu Gomu no…!" Echoed through the forest and blue eyes snapped open. The spider hadn't paused, not caring about a little noise. It didn't know what danger it was in, and Sanji ALMOST felt sorry for it. … Almost. The yellow goop dribbled onto his cheek as the fangs leant close and he could smell the fetid breath of the thing. Did spiders breathe? ... Who cared!? The stupid thing was gonna EAT him! This was the last time he would EVER take shelter under a large tree in the middle of a storm. Nu-uh, never was he repeating _this _incident.

"ROCKET!!" and with a loud crunch, a shot of blurred red and rubber man smacked into the spider's exoskeleton… and sent it into a far off tree. Sanji stared, mouth gaping wide as Luffy pulled his head free of the spider's side as it twitched and writhed. Legs jerked as if it's nerves were alive and twirling. Soon though, it's movement began to slow and after a short while in which Sanji waited nervously and Luffy made sure he hadn't harmed the man on his back in his flight, the spider fell silent and still, obviously dead.

"Luffy!" Sanji yelled, running over to his captain, "Damn it all, I never thought I'd be so happy to see you." Luffy nodded absently, continuing to check Zoro over before he sighed a little in relief and stood up again, hefting the man onto his back easily. Turning to the chef with a broad smile, the captain chuckled through his teeth.

"You're welcome!" he chirped, laughing a little. Sanji blinked as he saw the swordsman on Luffy's back.

"Oi… Is he…?" he began, looking a little anxiously at his captain. Blinking, Luffy raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Is he what?" and he hefted Zoro up a little, "He's not dead. Zoro's too tough and stubborn for that… But, I did notice he's lost his swords."

"Bet he wasn't happy about that…" the blonde commented idly as he grabbed up his shirt and jacket, shaking them violently to make sure there were no little hanger-onners. After thoroughly checking his shirt, pockets and all, he slipped it on and did it up. Frowning at the mud now coating it, he sighed heavily as he draped his tie around his neck, not bothering to do it up, and then pulled on his jacket, leaving it hanging open.

"Actually… I don't think he's really in the world of living at the moment. He was awake, but he didn't seem all 'there', ya know?" Luffy asked as he frowned a little and then hefted Zoro up again. He wasn't heavy to Luffy really, and the captain had carried him a few times before when he'd been too badly hurt or asleep to fend for himself. The idiot… Usually, he threw the swordsman over his shoulder but this time, he didn't want to risk that. What if he broke Zoro's back? The man seemed damaged enough as it was…

"Here." Sanji muttered, pulling his jacket off again and moving over. Tying Zoro's wrists together over Luffy's chest, the chef stepped back and shook his head.

"Thanks Sanji." the dark haired boy grinned widely, showing every aspect of his teeth that there was to be seen. 

"Che… idiot marimo. We can't just leave him behind… as much as I'd like to." he grumped, but paused when… something wasn't quite right. The side of his face… it, it was burning! Not literally, but like heating up his skin incredibly and stinging like mad!

"Sanji…?" Luffy asked, blinking as the chef's eyes widened and he clawed at the yellow goop. The stuff was now rock hard, and it was holding to his face like cement. He couldn't scratch under it! Couldn't pull it off; it was stuck! What the hell was it!?

"I… this stuff on my face. It hurts, but I can't get the shit off!" the man swore as he attempted to scratch his fingers over the rock hard surface. All he received for his troubles were badly jagged and broken nails. Looking up at the sky, Luffy frowned slightly.

"It's starting to rain heavily again…" he muttered before turning back to Sanji, who glanced at him, still trying to pull off the goo.

"Feels like the shit's eating my face away!" the blonde grunted, clawing at the stuff. Frowning, Luffy reached out and grabbed the man's arm, dragging him forward.

"We need to find Zoro's swords, then get back to Chopper. You both need him." he said firmly, in full captain mode as he stalked through the trees, hefting Zoro up every now and again. This time, it didn't look like he would be waking up again. _That _was starting to worry Luffy. The whole goo on Sanji's face wasn't exactly something to be overlooked either. He wasn't stupid in the respect that if a spider put something on it's prey… then it was there to either incapacitate, or kill. He didn't let on about his thoughts though, for fear of making Sanji freak out, or become depressed about the possibility that he was gonna die. Last thing he needed was for his chef to be distracted if there was a fight. The rain was now heavier than before, as the two made their slow but steady way back to where they had seen Zoro's skid mark.

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**Hmm, reviews? What do you think the Island is all about? It's secret and such. ... Yes, I have been watching Lost too much. --'' but that's not the point. I wanna know what you guys think is going to happen. ;) **


	4. The Secret

**Sorry for the wait. I had it done, I was just being lazy. I will get back to reviewers, but it just may take a while. I'm not in the best shape right now. **

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

_**Chapter 4: The Secret**_

Back on the ship, an absolutely panicked out of his brain reindeer was running back and forth, up and down the deck as the rain fell onto the heavily bobbing ship. The storm had caused some mild waves, but nothing too drastic. Usopp idly watched as Chopper raced around, he himself in a mild state of panic. He had just LET Zoro jump out of the boat. He should have stopped him! Tied him up like he and Johnny had at Nami's island. The red head herself was standing outside the kitchen, her pink raincoat on and eyes narrowed as they watched the green and dense island before the ship. They couldn't get there… That stupid fish would destroy Merry if they got beyond the two large cliffs that marked the entrance into the cove of the place. If they could get past that stupid thing, then they would have at least a chance at finding their friends.

Usopp had a secret of his own. He'd blown up the fish upon getting back to the ship, but he was so guilty because… he was sure he'd killed Zoro. The man hadn't screamed, hadn't looked even conscious as he flew over the island and onto it. Nami, Chopper and Robin hadn't been around when he'd shot the fish, hadn't seen Zoro fly through the air. They'd all been poring over a map, trying to figure out the origins of this place so they could gauge whether it was dangerous or not.

"Don't worry navigator-san… As long as the fish isn't dead, then the Island has no reason to wage war on Captain-san, swordsman-san and cook-san…" Robin said as she moved out beside Nami. Usopp gulped nervously… he'd killed the fish. That meant that… oh God, he'd killed ALL of them!

"Robin…" the long nose asked as he turned and looked up at the archaeologist, "What exactly would the Island do if it's protector was killed?"

"Well… I'm not quite sure." she replied, inclining her head slightly before turning to go into the kitchen, beckoning the others after her.

"I'm going to stay here and watch…" Nami said quietly; Robin smiled and nodded. Chopper and Usopp followed the older woman into the kitchen where the three sat down. The doctor of the group was bouncing and twitching nervously, but it was obvious he was paying close attention, hoping probably to learn something that would help him diagnose the others when they come back. If something was wrong with them, which the reindeer hoped there wouldn't be.

"So, what would the Island do?" Usopp asked, clasping his lightly shaking hands under the table. The others would SO kill him if they knew what he'd done…

"Well, it says in a book I read just recently, that the Crystal Isles are known for their almost living Islands. The main islands have protectors. The first of the four has a sea dragon, the second has a large crab, the third a leviathan and this one, a gigantic fish. They were to stop people from entering the islands and either disrupting the local wildlife, or the nature in which the creatures lived. As of so far… No one has been able to kill any of those protectors." Robin explained, leaning her cheek on her palm and tapping the table delicately with her nails, her way of showing nervousness. Though she didn't show it, she was as worried as the others.

"Wow… So the Islands are alive?" Chopper whispered, awe in his tone. His friend beside him was twitching almost like a nervous wreck, eyes wide and nose quivering slightly. What he done…?

"In a way… If their protector is killed, then they go on the self defence. It will conjure up a person's worst fear, hoping to scare them away. The thing is… if it conjures up something, it literally isn't just an illusion. It actually _creates _it." the archaeologist nodded, smiling a little. It was quite fascinating, but horrifying at the same time.

"So… If someone is hurt, or poisoned or something like that on the Island BY their worst fear… it would be real?" Usopp asked, gulping slightly as he looked up at his fellow crew member.

"I presume so, yes." Robin nodded, "Amazing, isn't it?"

"Oh… very." the long nose squeaked, "Excuse me…" and he hurried from the room.

"What would the others be afraid of?" Chopper muttered, tapping his bottom lip with a hoof.

"Ah, Cook-san is scared of spiders, but he would be worried about losing use of his hands." Robin provided, smiling a little, "Swordsman-san is afraid of weakness… And I believe Captain-san is afraid of losing what he holds closest to him."

"…Naa?"

"Us." and with that, the older woman gracefully got to her feet and then exited the kitchen, going back out to Nami to try and keep her hopeful. Or at least from attempting to do something silly, or courageously idiotic like Luffy was known for. Chopper was left sitting in his seat, staring at the table and letting all of that process. What was he going to end up dealing with when the others came back…?

Usopp was leaning on the railing in the rain, hands clenched so hard on his own arms that he was sure to have bruised them. He'd killed that Fish… he'd doomed his captain, and two of his best friends. God… didn't _he _feel like a hero? Sighing and biting his lip, the long nose watched the Island voraciously. No way was anything going to escape his eyes. Not after what he'd done…

---

On the Island, everything seemed pretty dismal. Sanji's face was starting to swell around the goop, which was worrying the chef and making him think that there was some sort of poison or something in the yellow stuff. Zoro was still out for the count, and Luffy had deemed it necessary that they stop their hunt for the man's swords in favour of finding a place to sleep for the night. Having found a rather dry cave further onto the island, behind a high waterfall that was only a thin stream now. Once it may have been large and fast flowing but now, it was barely strong enough to be called a shower. Searching the cave, Sanji had been absolutely ecstatic when he'd found a few branches and lots of built up twigs and dead leaves. How they had gotten there, the blonde didn't care, only that he had managed to start a fire thanks to his cigarette lighter.

Luffy was sitting at the front of the cave, his turn to be look out while Zoro was laid out beside the now large, and very warm fire. Three different coloured shirts were laid out over a place on the ground that Luffy and the chef had managed to clear of dust and such. Zoro's shirt wasn't really a shirt anymore. It was more two arm holes, a neck hole, a solid bit of material and then tatters. All three shirts had been cleaned by Sanji, who had washed them under the miserable waterfall before laying them out by the fire. The way things were going, they would be dry well and truly before night fell. While Sanji had been playing housemaid, Luffy had been watching over Zoro, constantly putting a hand on his head to see if he was too hot, or too cold. The swordsman's body temperatures were basically going spastic, ranging from freezing to boiling hot in the space of half an hour to an hour. It hadn't been until Sanji had told him to let Zoro alone that Luffy had moved from his place beside his first mate.

"Oi, Luffy. If the rain doesn't let up we're going to have to stay here the night." Sanji called, looking up at the solitary figure at the entrance to the cave. When there was no reply, the chef's eyes slanted and he shook his head slightly. After a few minutes, there was a long sigh.

"What are we gonna do for food? I'm hungry." the captain half whined, turning to look imploringly at his chef.

"There's nothing to cook in here, idiot!" Sanji snapped, irritable due to lack of nicotine. Being a chain smoker certainly had it's drawbacks when he wasn't able to get the drug that his system now relied on to keep him at least moderately calm. Luffy blinked at him for a second, idly wondering why the older teen was so annoyed at him for asking a question that he asked on a daily basis. Surely the chef would have been used to it by now? Apparently not…

"… blaaaah." the boy noised, turning to look out of the waterfall again, "I could go catch something?"

"If you feel like going out in the rain, go for your life, I don't care. Just don't get fucking lost, I'm not coming to find you." the blonde returned irritably. He hadn't had a cigarette since the rain had started. Damn one sounded so good right now…

"Ok!" Luffy replied brightly, turning to grin at his friend, "I'll catch us something nice to eat, ne? Don't let Zoro, or our shirts catch on fire!" The captain glanced at the swordsman and watched him for a second, before sighing a little and turning away.

"Well?" Sanji grumped, putting a fist on his hip and silently emphasising the fact that he would like to eat _today_ if he could.

"Sorry." Luffy replied, turning with a grin, "I was just thinking about something…" With that, he leapt out of the waterfall and ran off… without a shirt, in the pouring and ice cold rain…

"…Idiot." Sanji muttered, turning to look at the shirts and then Zoro. Idly, because his brain really couldn't be occupied with anything else, he wondered what Luffy had been thinking about. Why he had glanced at Zoro before leaving. Sure, the swordsman was hella sick, but surely Luffy knew that the bastard would be fine. He'd always been fine before. Frowning slightly, Sanji got to his feet and moved around, turning the shirts over and then peering at the green haired teen's face. Far away he looked bad, up close… heh, he did NOT look well… His skin was mottled many different colours, his breathing light and shallow. Dark red circles were around his eyes and the wounds on his back. They'd found one of Zoro's swords in bush, the only part of it visible, it's gold tipped end.

Luffy had proclaimed that it was Zoro's favourite one, and therefore he would at least be sedated by that fact until they found the others. They were going to go back out and search again tomorrow for the rest, if the weather was fine. Wadau was now clean of any mud or grime and was resting against the wall beside the swordsman, who was oblivious to the fact that his childhood friend's sword was like, _right _there. Frowning slightly, Sanji crossed his arms. Blue tinged the outside of Zoro's lips, while his actual lips were a light shade of purple. Not having anything on them of medical value, all the two had been able to do was clean out the large, and deep gashes in the man's legs and back, not to mention the large amount of grazing over the rest of the swordsman's body. He was like a walking wound.

Well… he wasn't even _walking_, so that analogy was a waste of time. Reaching out a finger, Sanji rested it on Zoro's forehead and then blinked when the temperature of the man's skin seemed warmer again. A few minutes ago he had been shivering. Frowning and then wiping his finger on his pants in case Zoro had some sort of disease, the chef settled himself back on the other side of the fire again.

"Great time for you to get sick, Marimo…" Sanji grouched, huffing in annoyance. He was muttering about Zoro's lack of consideration and about how if the swordsman had of been awake now, then he would have had the opportunity of griping right along with him. They fought, they hated each other, but that was a clash of egos more than anything else. They were friends… sort of. Anyway, Sanji glared at the marimo in front of him. He could _not_ believe the bastard had gotten so sick, so easily, and so quickly. This was only the chef's way of killing his boredom, and griping about crappy things in life was always fun. Zoro seemed to do that well.

Heaving out a breath through his nose to try and calm himself down, the blonde looked out to the rain and began thinking about what Nami was up to. How was she handling that current… the ship. Robin would help her of course, but Chopper and Usopp would be a handful. They were down to earth when the situation called for it, so hopefully they would help out, rather than scream and panic. …He really hoped Nami was okay. He was so involved in thinking about all of this… that he missed the glowing ruby red eyes that appeared in the darkness of the cave further down. He wouldn't have believed they were there anyway, for when the two had explored the cave further earlier, there'd been a wall blocking their path.

---

Luffy wasn't having much luck… So far he'd seen absolutely nothing. No animal life at all. Hell, he would have settled for cooking that big spider, but when he eventually found the fight site again, it was gone. Now, the lost (yes, _lost_) captain was trudging through ankle deep mud, trying to find something that would at least satiate his and the other's hunger for the night. Didn't look like he would have any luck today though… Yawning widely and shivering a little in the cold rain, Luffy turned to look around himself.

"Come on fooood, I'm hungry! Come out so I can not be hungry anymore…" he whined. That was when he spotted it… It was HUGE! In fact, it was so big, that it would probably last at least four days worth of food. Or… Two days with Luffy's wild appetite. He didn't really know what it was though. It kinda looked like a bear, but it wasn't, because it had the scaly hide of a weird snake. It was a dark brown that shimmered blue when any light hit it. It had a long tail that ended in a cluster of lethal looking spikes. Large bronze spikes covered it's broad and lizard like head, while it walked on it's back legs. Actually, it kinda looked like a weird dinosaur, only not… because it had the ears of a bear and the paws of a bear too.

"Wow… what a freak." Luffy stated bluntly, before shrugging. It looked tasty enough! Swinging his arm back, the teen grinned.

"Gomu Gomu no…" he began, giving his arm the time it needed to stretch out behind him, "Pistol!" With a snapping sound, his fist collided with the creature's thick and large back. Blinking a little, the beast reached a paw back and scratched at the spot before continuing on it's way, Luffy's jaw nearly hit the earth below his feet. His eyes bugged out for a second, before he frowned and ran forward towards the beast.

"Heeey!!" Luffy cried, waving his arms like a windmill and splattering mud everywhere. Finally, the thing looked up and blinked as it saw the weird looking human running towards it, flailing his arms and generally looking like a crazy and rabid creature.

"What… may I ask, do you think you are doing young sir?" the beast asked, raising a scaly and prickled eyebrow at Luffy… who squeaked and stopped in mid stride, staring up at the creature before him. Had it just… talked!?

"… Err… eating you?" the captain stated bluntly, grinning sheepishly as he stayed perfectly in pace, foot still raised behind him and arms still held in a windmilling position.

"Eating me? Tch, not in your wildest dreams my young lad. Nothing has been able to bite through my impenetrable hide in years, nay, centuries. That is how long I have been on this obtuse island." the being replied. Luffy's jaw was gaping open as he watched the lizard-bear-dinosaur creature blink down at him with bright blue eyes. It really WAS talking!! … How interesting!! But still… he needed food.

"… But, I have to eat something! I have to get food for my two friends! They're waiting for me!" Luffy pleaded, "Please can I eat you, mister bear-lizard-dinosaur thing?"

"I beg your _pardon_?! My name is Thelonius! It would do you well to learn some manners you impertinent young homo sapien." the thing frowned, "And I do not give a wit's end about your friends, if you're going to be so irrational in your attempts at a truce!" Luffy by now had become bored with the use of long words which had no meaning to his young, pirate brain, and had fallen asleep. His head was nodding and a tiny bubble was forming around his nose as he snored slightly and muttered 'Food' in his sleep. It didn't matter apparently that they were standing in the rain. Thelonius waited, a small tic beginning to go in his scaly temple, before he couldn't stand it any longer.

"Excuse ME!" he growled, reaching out a paw and attempting to pat Luffy's cheek with a small claw, trying to wake the boy up. He blinked in surprise though when all Luffy did was to twist and bite down on the claw, chewing idly as he muttered a muffled 'meat'. Raising his arm, Thelonius was not in the least surprised when Luffy came with it, hanging off the claw like a fish on a line.

"Hello…" the creature said loudly, shaking his arm wildly. Luffy flew around in the air like a rubber flag, flopping back and forth and grunting every now and again. Blearily, dark eyes finally opened and turned to focus on the paw that was holding him up.

"Eh? Meat?" he noised, not releasing his teeth. Thelonius sighed heavily. How he loathed human beings for their stupidity…

"Not here there isn't. Listen, shouldn't you be getting on your way or something?"

"… Ah! The others!" Luffy yelped, letting go of the claw and dropping to the ground easily. How could he have forgotten his nakama!?

"So there are more of you?" the bear-lizard asked. Looking up at Thelonius, the captain nodded.

"Yeah. There's me, and then there's two of my friends. One's hurt real bad, and the other has some sort of goo from a spider on his face." It had never been like Luffy to keep details like that to himself, and therefore he didn't bother to change his pattern now. Dark blue and almond shaped eyes gazed down at the human before them, before a smile crossed Thelonius's face.

"One's sick? The other has spider goo? I think I should take a look at these fellow homo sapiens, yes? I _am _a doctor after all." he bragged slightly.

"Wow… are all animals, doctors?" Luffy asked, thinking of the fact that Chopper was a doctor too. Thelonius gave him a _weird_ look and then sighed and waved a paw slightly.

"Just, lead me towards where your friends are and I'll see if I can help them, very well?" he said, giving Luffy a look that indicated he wasn't a very patient bear-lizard-dinosaur-thing.

"Okay!" and grabbing Thelonius's arm, he began pulling the weird thing in the direction he hoped was the right one. Apparently, the fact that he didn't have any food, hadn't occurred to Luffy yet.

---

Sanji was just starting to get positively livid when there was a soft crunching noise outside. Blinking a little and then narrowing his eyes dangerously, the chef got to his feet and watched the entrance carefully. If anything came through there that looked hostile, he was going to kick first and ask questions later. Actually, he probably wouldn't even ask questions. If he kicked it away, then there really was no point asking questions about it was there?

He glanced at the unconscious swordsman and frowned slightly when he saw the man was making _no _improvement what so ever. He was still those weird colours, his breathing was still shallow and weak, and those red circles were only darkening with every hour that passed that he didn't get any treatment. There was another soft crunch and then a scaly paw appeared on the edge of the cave's opening. Dropping instantly into a fighting stance, the blonde placed a soft snarl on his face and then began making his careful way towards the paw. Another paw followed, and then a lizard/bear/dinosaur like head popped it's way up and over.

"Hello!" the thing greeted jovially. It didn't get the chance to say anymore than that as Sanji's black booted foot came down on it's head and sent it falling straight back down to the bottom of the small waterfall again. Luffy popped up and frowned.

"Sanji! Why'd you do that!?" he growled slightly. The blonde stared at him and then leaned out over the edge.

"Is it gone?" 

"That was a doctor you idiot!! He could've helped Zoro and you!!" Luffy roared before jumping away from the cliff, leaving his hands there and stretching himself down to the bottom again to grab up the stunned bear-thing and started heaving it back up the cliff side again.

"… _That__'__s _a doctor?" the blonde asked doubtfully, "Alright. I guess Chopper's one too… At least Chopper's cute though…" And he walked back over to the fire and dropped down by the cave wall, yawning and frowning as he heated his hands in front of the blaze. It took a while before Luffy reappeared with the so-called doctor and when he did, the captain was a tiny bit miffed that Sanji had kicked him down.

"Oh my…" Thelonius gasped as he hurried over to Sanji and inspected him, "Oh you certainly ARE sick, aren't you lad?" The bear thing continued feeling over Sanji's face, his temperature, until the chef could take no more and growled in annoyance.

"Get the hell away from me!" he growled, "I'm not the sick, weak ass one! He is!" He pointed towards the motionless and up until now, unnoticed Zoro across the fire from him. Luffy chuckled a little as he walked in.

"He's telling the truth. Zoro's sick, not him. Zoro's the green haired one. Sanji, this is Theloni-whatsit. Theloni-whatsit, this is Sanji."

"Oh my, I'm am terribly sorry. I did not mean to offend you." Thelonius apologized, "And my name is pronounced, Thelonius. If that is too difficult, call me Thel." With a short shuffling, the bear-lizard-dinosaur-doctor-thing made his way to Zoro's side and crouched down, muttering under his breath as he looked the swordsman over many, many times. Finally he pulled away and shook his head a little.

"Is it… bad?" Luffy asked, fiddling with his own fingers and biting his bottom lip.

"Hm… He's dying." Thelonius replied solemnly, "He's been poisoned, incredible impact trauma to his body… And it looks like he may have caught one of the forest's diseases. His wounds are infected… And his heart is steady, but weak."

"Che… Marimo's always dying, but it never happens. How do we fix him?" Sanji commented from the side, smoking the second-last of his precious cigarettes. He wouldn't be able to smoke all day tomorrow, and that was going to cause havoc with his temper - yay! Such fun. Sighing a little heavily, Sanji conceded to make this cigarette last as long as he could. Who knew how long they'd be stuck here?

"There is no way to fix him, aside from antibiotics, some antiseptic on his wounds and a good, long rest." Thel muttered as he continued looking the silent and still swordsman over.

"So he's gonna die?" Luffy asked, his tone and voice quiet as he watched his sick friend. If Zoro died… He didn't want to think about it. He'd never really thought about Zoro dying. Not since he'd seen Mihawk slash him open. He'd been sure he'd been dead then, but he'd stuck around. It seemed that every time Zoro was close to death, he always came back one way or another. He didn't stay down… Luffy only hoped he would do that this time.

"Not for a long time, I don't think… He has at least a week left in him. But any longer, and it'll be touch and go." the bear-lizard sighed slightly as he sat back, "I'd like to watch him, make sure nothing else appears, if you two wouldn't mind? It'd be in his best interests." Luffy and Sanji both nodded.

"We should get back to the ship in a week… I hope." the blonde muttered slightly, glancing at Luffy in an almost annoyed fashion. The captain wasn't paying attention, having settled himself against the wall where he commenced watching his best friend silently.

"Luffy…? You okay?" Sanji asked, not sure if he could have the patience to deal with his idiot of a captain right now, but not wanting the kid to get all depressed and miserable on him. Heh, there was a weird thought. Luffy, depressed and _looking _it. The kid got depressed, but the more he was depressed, the more he hid it. It became knowledge that when Luffy ignored someone purposely, it meant he was in a bad mood, or was a little upset about something. Those moods certainly didn't last long in the captain, for that the crew was thankful. And if he didn't get over it on his own, then Zoro would always be able to help him out.

The two always seemed to know how the other worked, how they thought, what moods they were in. Most of the time they never really spent any time near each other really. Just co-existed, occasionally getting pissy with one another, fighting, and then getting on with their day as if nothing had happened. But then, Zoro started fights with pretty much every one. Whether he meant to or not, heh, who knew? It was more likely the idiot's blunt statements that got him into the fights then his own wish to fight with his friends. Finally, Luffy seemed to notice that he had been spoken to and looked up with an inquisitive expression.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, fine." and he chuckled a little, "Zoro'll be okay."

"Damn straight." the blonde replied, taking another small drag on his cigarette. He was getting annoyed with such small inhales, but he had to.

"Heh…" Luffy noised softly, glancing at Thelonius who was standing silently by the wall, paws behind his back in a show of respect. Night was filtering in… and still they had no food, "Sanji has that stuff on his face." Luffy smiled a little, and then turned his gaze briefly back to Zoro, and then back outside to the darkening island.

His own stupid, _stupid _fault for wanting to go exploring. Zoro would never have come after him if he hadn't of decided to go off on some crazy adventure. He couldn't help wanting to explore, it was in his natural personality. But it got his friends in more trouble than he was willing to admit was real. Heaving a silent sigh, he brought his knees up and placed his chin on them. Hopefully tomorrow, he would wake up and Zoro would be there frowning at him, telling him off about his idiotic ideas and then threatening to murder him if he did it again. 

"Ah…" Thelonius nodded and moved forward, leaning down to check the chef's face. Sitting still and allowing the bear-lizard to touch him, Sanji waited for the verdict.

"Hmm… Looks like a homing beacon." the 'doctor' said, a light twitching of his pebbly lips indicating that he was feeling the urge to either smirk, or smile.

"Homing… beacon?" Luffy blinked, raising his eyes up and looking very confused indeed. He'd never heard of such a thing.

"Oh yes. The much more advanced, and larger arachnids on this island use a sort of goo like this that puts out a trail that any hungry spider could find." Thel explained, eyes on Luffy as Sanji's face paled to the colour of porridge. The poor chef… He let out a barely audible squeak as he glanced around himself, ready for any eight-legged, pincer wielding creature that should dare to show it's ugly… err, face. Did spiders have faces? … He didn't wanna know!

"… I hate spiders…" he muttered, drawing his knees up and looking like he was about to try and climb the walls at any second.

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**There. Another chapter ish done. If you think it's only gonna be Zoro pain, think again people. Zoro is only the tip of the iceburg, and the catalyst for something much much bigger. Reviews would be great, thanks. :)**


	5. Say what

**Yeah, I know. Haven't updated in forever. I've had a massive dose of writer's block. Plus everything has gone into overdrive in my life recently, and i've just been so busy and tired. So, I apologize profusely and offer this extra long chapter as a cheap bribe against angry readers. .. Though, I'm not particularly happy with this chapter... It just doesn't seem to flow. Anyway. I had to update, so here it is. Hope you like. Next update hopefully will be for Night Vigil. **

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_**Chapter 5: Say what!? **_

Luffy didn't know what, or why he woke up, but his eyes opened and he blinked a little as he slowly sat up and rubbed at his face. It was still very dark, but a soft glow in front of him showed that the fire had almost gone out. That meant that Sanji hadn't tended to it during the night like the chef had said he would. Humming in slight confusion, the boy shrugged before standing and looking around automatically for his sickest crew member. There was, wall, wall, wall, dying fire, cave entrance, floor… nope, no Zoro there. Wait…

"AHH! Where's Zoro!?" Luffy cried, leaping to his feet and panicking slightly, "Sanji!? Sanji, where the hell are you!?" Running to the cave entrance, he peered out into the darkness of the island. There were no stars or moon, indicating that the clouds were still lingering. A light misty rain was speckling his face, blown in a fairly strong wind.

"Sanji!!" he called out into the darkness, "Zoro!" There were no responses. Not even an echo. Biting his bottom lip slightly, Luffy shifted back into the cave again. Surely they must be in here… _Surely_! Yeah, he just had to search the cave! Feeling his way along the wall, Luffy put a hand out in front of him… and nearly fell over when the wall that he'd been expecting to find… wasn't there. He blinked as he felt a cold breeze washing over him and frowned a little, still unable to see as he began feeling his way forward.

"Hello?" he called, frowning a little when his own voice echoed back to him nearly ten times before it quieted again. Grimacing, he moved back over and grabbed up Wadau, slipping it into his belt before pulling on his shirt. Both Zoro and Sanji's shirts were gone too. Had they left? No… Sanji wouldn't waste his time trying to take a sick Zoro with him. Hell, he wouldn't waste time taking a healthy Zoro with him if he ran away. Moving back to the exit again, Luffy began moving forward into it. The corridor was long… and the darkness didn't lighten any. The more he walked, the more he felt that something was very very wrong.

That he was walking into a trap… and his hunches were usually right with this sort of thing. Nevertheless, he continued forward. His hand brushed many different materials. Sometimes the wall was soft, sometimes scratchy and making his hand itch, but most of the time though it was smooth and cold rock. He was going around a rather sharp corner when a bright light made him wince and shut his eyes, grunting slightly at the ache it sent through his face. Walking forward and trying to crack his eyes open to see, he stumbled a little and then his toe snagged on a rock, and over he went.

His face hit the ground rather nastily, but thanks to his rubber powers, his nose just bent and didn't break. Shifting to his feet again, he rubbed at his nose idly, his eyes finally beginning to adjust to the light. Blinking as he looked around, Luffy noticed that the light that had seemed too bright, was in fact really quite dim. Four kerosene lamps were sitting on four large rocks. Blinking a little, Luffy moved forward and grabbed one up, hooking it on his finger and holding it aloft.

"What is this?" he groaned, "Where are my friends, you stupid cave thing!? Did you eat them!? You DUMB thing!!" and he kicked the wall for good measure. Nothing replied to him other than his own echoing voice and shuffling. Sighing heavily and rubbing at his forehead, the captain pouted and began moving forward again. It wasn't long until he came out of what was now discovered to be a tunnel. Frowning heavily, Luffy looked around at the trees, bushes, vines and large, almost squishy looking flowers around him. Where the hell were Sanji and Zoro!? Surely the chef wouldn't desert him, and Zoro was too sick to go anywhere right now.

"Sanji…? Zoro…?" His voice sounded so small in the jungle world around him and he swallowed a little before frowning deeply. He'd find them. He'd found them before, he'd find them again! No problem! Placing the lamp back into the stone cave, Luffy headed forward into the jungle. His face was set, hat drooping slightly over his eyes and shadowing them. Wherever his Nakama were… he was going to find them.

---

Sanji frowned in the darkness, finding it absolutely possible to see anything. Where they were, he had no idea. All he remembered, was that Thelonius had yelped about a spider behind him, he had turned and looked… and then darkness. That bastard of a lizard-bear thing must have knocked him out! He knew it was evil! Next to him, he could feel the heat that was literally streaming from Zoro's skin. The bastard's fever had gotten way worse, seeing as the two of them had been dragged through water, mud, and most of the jungle. He knew this from the fact that his hair was full of leaves and twigs, he was soaking wet, and he could feel still wet mud on his pants and jacket.

So yeah, it kinda wasn't hard to deduce what had happened. Frowning heavily, Sanji gazed out into the darkness. It was silent except for Zoro's shallow and sometimes erratic breathing. The blonde could feel the two pieces of chain that were wrapped around his ankles, and the thick piece of rope around his wrists, binding them together. Hence, he wasn't making any attempts at escape. He was finding this quite sucky, yes… but he could do nothing about it for the moment. If only Zoro would fucking wake. Up! As if on cue, the marimo-head let out a soft moan, his breathing turning even faster as he began to wake up.

"About freaking time!" the blonde growled slightly, shuffling sideways until he felt the hot skin of Zoro's arm against the back of his hand, "How do you feel? Are you tied up? Can you stand?"

"Fuck… up, love cook… you're making my head hurt…" Zoro groaned as a response, and Sanji felt the heat shift as the man beside him began to sit up.

"In case you hadn't noticed, we've been caught. Who knows what by! And you've been freaking unconscious the whole time! And you're telling ME to fuck up!?" Sanji ranted, waving his bound arms around and freaking out.

"… You sound tense…" Zoro muttered as a response, his voice dull and tired.

"Tense? Heh…" Sanji noised humourlessly, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard from you, Marimo."

"Luffy likes meat…"

"No freaking duh! Anything else you wanna say that's completely and utterly pointless right now?!" Sanji was SO not in the mood for the bastard's sarcasm right now.

"3344... 3345..." came Zoro's dull voice once again. The chef blinked in complete and utter confusion. Had Zoro lost his mind? It sounded like he was counting like he did when he trained… but… he wasn't training. What the hell…? Calming quite quickly at this new development, the blonde eyed Zoro carefully.

"Zoro, who am I?" Sanji asked, frowning in the darkness.

"… Bird?" 

"Great, you're delirious. That's just fucking fantastic now, isn't it?" the blonde snapped, sighing heavily and shaking his head.

"Would you both, be quiet. You're disrupting my plan." a soft, almost melodic voice said from the darkness. Zoro was reduced to muttering and mumbling now, obviously not even conscious. He hadn't even been awake in the first place! Sanji knew that voice though… and he frowned heavily.

"Thelonius." he said, his tense and panicked voice now calm and cool. It didn't do to show enemies fear, "Let us go. What do you even need us for?" 

"You have a very good point. I should have killed you before, but I didn't… heh… I have a better idea." the bear-lizard's grim voice came back to him, "I'll show you humans why you shouldn't come near our island. Why you shouldn't harm our protector." 

"…Wait, what? So there are _more _of your freaky species around here? Well that's just wonderful, isn't it?" the blonde returned, frowning in annoyance and wishing deeply that he had a cigarette to calm him down. His hands were shaking with anger, and he was sure it wouldn't be long before Thelonius picked up on the angry tremble in his voice too.

"Fool!" Thelonius spat, and a light suddenly flared, a fire having been lit in a kerosene lamp, "_I _am the only inhabitant of my species. The rest all _died_." Wincing slightly in the bright glow, Sanji kept his cool and glanced to the side at Zoro, who was once again well and truly unconscious, though he was still mumbling incoherently.

"Sorry to hear that." the chef replied coldly, not sounding sorry at all. Thelonius growled dangerously as he approached the chef, meeting Sanji's cold blue eyes with black, furious ones.

"Do not mock me… It may be the last thing you ever do…" he warned softly, voice and tone dangerously low. Sanji frowned, his eyes dark and angry.

"Don't piss me off… It may be the last thing _you _ever do." he replied, his tone matching Thelonius' easily. The bear-creature frowned before spinning suddenly and lashing out with his spiked tail. The blonde's eyes widened and he ducked instinctively, but he didn't get low enough, and the tips of the spikes ripped through the back of his jacket and shirt, grazing rather deeply into his skin as they flew overhead. Gritting his teeth angrily, Sanji jerked heavily at the chains around his ankles, pulling and trying to stretch his legs apart, looking like a bizarre version of a frog. Thelonius's pebbly lips lifted in a derogatory smirk as he watched, tiny, thin arms crossing over his broad chest.

"Struggle all you want, idiot. You won't get free. In case you hadn't noticed, which I'm sure you haven't, this island brings up exactly that which you dread." the bear-thing smirked, eyes narrowing maliciously at his captive. Sanji paused in his struggling and looked up slowly, eyes wide.

"What…?" he asked, teeth gritted slightly but half believing what had been said. He'd been dreading it raining… and it'd rained. He'd been dreading finding nasty creatures on this island, and the spiders had shown up! Glancing down at Zoro, his eyes narrowed minimally. Zoro would have been dreading hitting the ground the wrong way when he landed, and probably would have been dreading the idea that he would become weaker from such a hard hit. And Luffy… Luffy would now be dreading Zoro dying… wouldn't he? He remembered the other night, when Luffy had been sitting against the wall, watching his first mate with concerned eyes.

"_He'll be fine, Luffy." Sanji had said, ignoring his own twang of concern, "He always has been, always will be." _

"… _I don't want him to die, Sanji… because of me." Luffy replied, before sighing and shaking his head, smiling instead, "Ah, yeah, he'll be alright. Night, Sanji." _

"Ah, it's making you think now, isn't it?" Thelonius mocked, eyes still narrowed darkly, "What else do you dread, _chef_?" Sanji's eyes snapped back up to the bear-thing's face again, his mouth opening in a small gasp as he looked instinctively down at his hands. Frowning deeply, he clamped his eyes shut and forced himself to dread something else. He wasn't going to dread losing his hands, because then it would happen! … But wait, why should he believe the words of this… this _creature_? What authority did it have? Or knowledge even. How the hell did it know what the island did, or didn't do?

"What are you, linked with this place?" Sanji half snapped, hoping to put Thelonius off his guard. His hopes died though when their captor just chuckled.

"No no, I'd never hope or wish to be linked to this place. It's a horrible place, but… it's home. And it's very private. Or, at least it _was, _until you and your friends came here." he replied. Sanji smirked slightly, keeping his mind off his hands as best he could.

"Then how the hell do I know that this place does what you said it does, eh?" the blonde frowned, still shifting slightly as he attempted to free himself from his bonds. Thelonius's smirk turned cold and cruel.

"Don't believe me… test it out." he chuckled darkly, eyes so narrow and dark that it was a wonder they weren't made of chips of coal. Sanji was almost tempted, but he kept himself in check.

"I'm not that stupid."

"Then you do believe it will happen?" Thelonius was smirking smugly, arms still crossed loosely as he watched the blonde frown.

"No!"

"Then try it…" For a few minutes, Thelonius and Sanji stared at each other silently. Black eyes were lit with malicious intent, while blue were determined and focused. He wasn't going to let this… _thing_, beat him.

"It'll conjure up what I dread then?" the chef asked easily and Thelonius blinked before smirking again and nodding slowly.

"Indeed…. Go right ahead."

"Okay… I shall." and Sanji smirked widely. He had a nice plan up his sleeve… Closing his eyes, the blonde imagined something that was bad… but would help both he and Zoro at the same time. His eyes snapped open as he felt it take effect and with a short gasp, both he and Zoro were spiralling downwards into darkness. 

---

He had no idea how long he searched. All he knew, was that by the time he finally found SOME semblance of a clue as to where his friends could be, it was raining heavily and he was soaked to the bone once again. He was desperately hungry, but that was unimportant right now, even though the hunger was making his stomach growl loudly. Luffy had no idea where he even was, if he had doubled back on his own trail, if he was still heading in the right direction. What if Sanji and Zoro were dead already? Who had taken them? The bear thingy? He'd seemed so nice though! Still… Luffy hadn't felt right about him when he'd first met him.

At the moment, he was following what looked like two almost washed away drag trails in the mud. When he'd first found the trails, they'd been thick and easy to follow… but then the rain had started, and as Luffy had continued following the tracks, they'd been washed away. Now, he was occasionally finding a deeper gouge in the ground and from there, he would continue on his way. But the rain was increasing, getting to the point where it was becoming hard for him to see through the curtain of water that was streaming from the front of his hat. Groaning softly to himself as the rain just continued to pour, and the task of finding his friends became harder and harder, Luffy leaned against the trunk of a tree and slammed a fist into it.

"My nakama…" he muttered, slamming his fist harder this time. The tree shook slightly, water falling from it's leaves and making Luffy whine slightly before he slammed his fist into it once again. This time, something rattled and with a short whistle that was lost in the sound of the rain falling, it smacked into Luffy's head and then rolled innocently across the ground.

"OWW!!" the boy whined, grabbing at his head and rubbing it, "What the hell was that!?" Looking around, dark eyes widened when they found the cause of the throbbing lump on the back of his head. Gasping slightly in disbelief, Luffy kneeled down in the mud and reached out. Gently, he ran a hand over the sheaths of Zoro's other two blades. They'd searched and searched for these, but never found them. They must have been stuck in the tree, and Luffy's abuse of the trunk had shaken them free. Grabbing the red and black swords up, he clenched them slightly before adjusting his belt and looping the blades into it.

The appearance of two of Zoro's most prized possessions, only intensified Luffy's determination and strengthened his resolve. Stalking forward with new vigour, it was almost as if the rain didn't touch him and the mud didn't trip him up. His dark eyes burned with latent anger. Someone had taken his friends, and when he found them… that someone was gonna pay. Dearly. He walked stoically for another hour or so before a smirk wound it's way onto his face. There was another cave up ahead. He could see the blackness of it from here. In the very middle of the darkness, was a tiny glitter of light, no bigger than a pin's head.

Luffy's gut urged him onwards, and with a short sprint through the undergrowth, he found himself in the cave and heading towards the small light. It was silent, aside from the sound of his wet sandals flopping on the floor and echoing back to him. He continued on his way, the light ahead growing steadily larger until the cave began to lighten in front of him. Before he knew it, he was standing in a large and well lit cavern. Condensation dripped from the ceiling, creating an eerie but constant sound in the background. Everywhere possible, lamps were hung. In the corner, there was a small table and a chair with a few scattered papers littered over it.

The ground was quite dry surprisingly, and the whole cavern had the general feel of a bad guy's hide out. Frowning a little, Luffy began moving into the main part of the cavern, eyes darting back and forth for any signs of his friends, or _any_ movement at all. So it came as no surprise when he dropped down on all fours to avoid the spiky ball that flew overhead and thwacked instead into a stalagmite. The crumbling sound echoed around the room as Luffy twisted and glared at the thing that dared to attack him when he wasn't looking.

"You." the captain growled as he saw the thing that he was sure had taken his friends away. Out of the shadows, slid Thelonius. His paws were clasped behind his back, and his pebbly face was twisted and cruel, a cold smirk lining his lips.

"Me." he replied, chuckling softly, "I must wonder, what did you come here for, Monkey D Luffy?"

"Where are my friends?" Luffy asked, his voice tremulous with anger. He'd gotten Sanji and Zoro onto this island, and now he'd failed in his job as captain to protect them. He'd brought an enemy into their midst and they'd been taken away. It was just one big screw-up after the next… This time, he wasn't going to mess up. Once he got the two back, he would rocket them onto Merry, and they would leave. Thelonius was chuckling as though Luffy had just told him the best joke in the world.

"Your friends? Is that what you came here seeking, Luffy?" he mocked, before running his forked tongue over his distorted lips, "They're dead." Luffy's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Don't lie to me… If they were dead, I'd know. Now," Jerking forward, the incensed teen snapped his hand out and around Thelonius's throat, shoving him backwards until he slammed into the wall, "Where. Are. They? I won't ask again…" The bear-lizard chuckled thickly, rasping slightly at the increased pressure on his windpipe. Dark eyes narrowed as they met with burning brown.

"You couldn't save them, _captain_. They're dead… Go see for yourself. That hole beside the wall over there? Ha, in they fell… and I heard a nice loud crunch when they hit bottom." Thelonius replied, still chuckling as though Luffy wasn't holding his life in his hand. Rubber fingers tightened dangerously on the thick throat, starting to crush it cruelly before with a short growl, they released. Putting a hand on his hat, the captain stalked over to the hole and crouched beside it, leaving Thelonius to gasp for air.

"SANJI!?" he called down into it, hands cupped around his mouth, "ZORO!?" No response, not even an echo. Sighing at the lack of response, Luffy grimaced and glared down at the hole in the ground in front of him. If he had to jump down there, he would. BUT, he wouldn't until he was assured that they were down there. Because then his gesture of heroism, would be wasted, and it'd probably be a pretty stupid thing to do anyway. He wasn't THAT dumb. Standing up, Luffy frowned deeply as he turned to face… an empty cave. Everything was as it was, with only one exception… no Thelonius.

"… oi?" Luffy noised, moving into the centre of the room and looking around. He flitted around, searching under the desk, under the papers, and even under a rather sizable rock. Still no sign of Thelonius.

"Coward…" the captain muttered, but without affirmation that his friends had gone down that hole, he wasn't keen to take the jump and end up down a hole… with no paddle. … Or was that up a river? Oh well, didn't matter right now. He would be stuck if he jumped down the hole, but his friends were down there, but they might not be! … Gah, now his head hurt. Well, he'd done stupid things before - why not? With a short cry, he ran at the hole… and leaped into it.

Luffy had made another mistake though… in his search of the cave, he conveniently overlooked the rug that was slightly sunken in by a nearby wall. It's edges curled a little, it's middle was sinking slowly but surely… and after a while, it would fall through into the hole below it. Too bad this hadn't happened before Luffy had seen it… Dark chuckling started from the ceiling, one place the flitting and confused captain hadn't inspected. Dropping down and wriggling his sticky padded fingers, Thelonius licked at his pebbly lips with his long and forked tongue. Eyes narrowed cruelly as they focused on the hole that Luffy had just jumped down.

"So stupid..." Thel chuckled to himself, moving to the hole and peering down it with a smirk, "Ah, and now… the fun begins."

---

That idea had been stupid. It had been an escape, true… but it had been all together, really stupid. Sanji had thwacked his head on the wall on the way down the hole, and was now bleeding profusely from his forehead. He was dazed, and dizzy and to make matters worse… Zoro was on _top _of him!! He raised a knee and shoved the much heavier teen off him, ignoring the resulting thump and groan. Grabbing at his head, the blonde sighed a little as he realised his hands were still tied.

"S'goin' on?" a groggy voice said beside him. With a short glance, Sanji realised that they had fallen into a well lit cavern. Light was fairly bouncing from every angle, turning the place into a blazing oasis.

"You awake then?" the blonde asked, this time turning and watching as Zoro slowly sat up and put a hand to his head.

"Yeah… Where are we?" the swordsman grunted, eyes still closed and breathing shallow and weak.

"Che, you tell me. …I have no idea." With that, Sanji sat up again and looked around, squinting to try and see through the light. There were… plants. Yeah. And there were lots of them.

"… Sanji? Is it just me, or are those plant things moving…?" Zoro groaned, getting up beside him and squinting ahead as he stumbled slightly and let out a sharp gasp, pain throbbing through him. Sanji frowned, thinking the swordsman was delirious again. That idea was bolstered by the fact Zoro had just used his correct name. He was about to berate him for being such a moron when he paused, and looked slowly back at the large and leafy looking things before him. They were indeed moving. Not only that, but they were getting _closer_.

"… That can't be good…" the chef muttered, before frowning and starting to bite at the ropes binding his hands. Zoro stumbled and barely managed to catch himself before he slumped over onto his rump, placing his head between his hands and grinding his teeth to try and stop the world from spinning around him. Bright colours were obscuring his vision, and he was sure he had felt something crunch and grind when he'd stood up just then. His wrists were bound, but his feet were free, unlike Sanji's. Glancing over at the first mate of the crew, Sanji frowned slightly.

"Listen, Zoro, you're pretty sick. Stop being a stubborn ass, and just stay there." he reprimanded. Zoro frowned deeply. 

"Go to hell… You're not my mother…" he growled slightly. Shrugging, Sanji shook his head.

"Well, Luffy can't say I didn't try." the blonde muttered as he continued chewing at the ropes. Gradually, and with much swaying and stumbling, Zoro got back to his feet and squinted at the plants in front of him.

"Hn… they have giant teeth." he commented. Sanji's head snapped up.

"Say _what_ now!?" he almost squeaked, his voice definitely taking on a much higher note than usual. His eyes widened incredibly when he saw that Zoro was indeed speaking the truth. The swordsman frowned a little, shaking his head slightly and ignoring the way his breathing was short and quick.

"We'll have to fight them… There's no other way out…" and he reached down to his side, but paused when he felt nothing. Not even his Haramaki, "Shit… Still missing?" Finally, Sanji grunted as his teeth ground through the last thread of the rope. His jaw was tired and he worked his mouth a little to try and relieve the ache.

"We found the white one, but it got left behind when that bastard Thelonius dragged us out of the cave." Sanji muttered as he began pulling at the chains binding his ankles. Wait… what the hell was he doing? Why didn't he fucking think of that sooner! Silently, he berated himself for being such an idiot. … Then wondered if talking to himself was the first sign of insanity. Looking over at Zoro, he hoped this would work.

"Oi… reckon you could find a weak link in these chains and get me free?" Sanji asked, frowning slightly. Zoro looked over, one eye blinking more slowly than the other before he looked down at the chains.

"Can't free yourself?" he asked, a hint of sarcasm returning as he leant over and began tugging at each link of the chain.

"Shut up, moron…" Sanji frowned, but his voice was quiet. He was watching the way Zoro's hands were shaking as he tugged at each loop, the way sweat was beading quicker than lightning could strike, on that bony face. He began to wonder if Zoro really was going to die here…

"Nn, here…" Zoro grunted finally, squinting at the chain and digging his thumbs into the individual link. Tugging outwards, he slowly began stretching the steel, until it was almost at it's breaking point. Pulling away, Zoro fell back against the wall panting like he had just ran a hundred miles in two seconds. Grinding his teeth a little, Sanji jerked his legs and was rewarded when the link snapped and the chain fell apart. Grabbing at it, he ignored Zoro as the moron got to his feet again.

"This place is crappy..." the marimo stated, causing the blonde to roll his eyes.

"No freaking duh, genius." He paused though when he heard a serious of rather horrible sounding crunches and momentarily thinking that the plants had arrived, he leapt to his feet. … Not the plants… Zoro. Having stood up while Sanji had been untangling the chain, he was now hunched over, hugging himself and shaking slightly.

"What the fuck…?" Sanji muttered, before moving over, "Oi, moss head… you alright?" Mild concern was in his voice.

"F-Fine…" Zoro replied, straightening slowly again before blowing out a slight breath, "What do you care anyway, darts?" His voice was strained and he had turned even paler than before.

"I don't. I just don't want to have to drag your sorry ass out of here by myself." the blonde returned, glancing up as those carnivorous plants got closer and closer by the second.

"Fuck up…" Zoro replied, his voice harsh as he stood straight again, "I guess we'd better get ready to f-fight…" He couldn't stop the wince and the instinctive twitch as his body shook with pain again. Sanji frowned at him, before looking back at the plants.

"I'll take the right, you take the left. We meet in the middle, and the loser has to clean the ship's deck for Nami-san, for the next week. Alone." Sanji challenged, pretending everything was normal. Zoro looked up at him with a very small smirk, before he scowled again.

"Your mop head would suit that job." he responded before turning so his back was to Sanji.

"I'm sure it would, but short, thick bristles are better, cactus." he responded, turning to put his back to Zoro's and glaring at the plants out of the corner of his eye.

"Asshole… 1!" Zoro growled, also glaring at the plants.

"Moron… 2!" the chef replied, getting ready.

"Idiot… 3!" they both cried before diving off in their own directions, both smirking at the challenge, "May the best man win! ... I will!" It was really quite amazing how alike the two idiots were. Morons...

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**Oooh, cliffy. I'm so sorry, but any more and it probably would have been too long. BUT, the next chapter (hopefully, cross your fingers) should be up in the next two - three weeks. Sorry for the wait, but I have work, and heaps of crap to do at the moment. I can't just sit and write like I used to.**

Reviews would be great, please. 


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